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HE 


H  l^T  ORICAL      VIEWS 


O  F 


DEVONSHIRE. 


IN    F7rE    rOLUMES. 


*^»%»y%^>^"  ■ 


VOL.     I. 


By      Mr.      P  O  L  W  H  E  L  E, 

Of     POLWHELE, 
In-      CORNWALL. 


ssj^^  ^- 


EXETER: 
Pbimteb  bt  TREWMAN  AMD  SON,  for  CADELL,  DILLY,  and  MURRAY,  LoNDorr, 


6t- 


CONTENTS. 

V  O  L  U  M  E     I. 

The       BRITISH       PERIOD: 

From  the  first  Settlements  in  Danmonium,  fo  the  Arrival  of  Julius  Cjesak, 
fifty-five  Years  before  Christ. 

CHAPTER       I. 

S  E  C  T  I  O  N      I. 

riEfF  of  the  INHABIT  ANTS  of  DANMONIUM,  in  the  MlTlSH  PERIOD. 

I.  Emigrators  from  the  Eajl,  fettling  in  De-von — Said  by  the  Saxon  Chronicle  to  be  Armenians 
— PaJJ'age  from  the  Saxon  Chronicle — Firf  Settlements  in  the  Southams — Oppofite  Opinions 
of  Carte,  Borlafe,  andWhitaker — Extra'il  from  Cafar — Period  of  the  Eafi em  Emigration. 
— 11.  A  fecnnd  Colony — Phenicians. — III.  A 'third  Colony — Greeks. — IV.  Other  fettlei*s 
from  the  continent  of  Europe — the  Bclga — the  Cimbri — the  Carnabii. 

SECTION       II. 

FlEWofthe  DANMONIAN  SETrLEMENTS,  DIVISIONS  of  LANDS,  and  GOl^ERN- 
MENT,  in  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

J.  Geogrtphy  of  Danmonium  from  Ptolejny — from  Richard — Settle?nents  of  the  Aborigines  or 
Danmonii  on  the  fouth -fide  of  the  Jugum  Ocriniim — of  the  Phenicians  on  the  fwrth-fide  of  the 
Jugum  Ocrinum — of  the  Greeks  to  the  fouth-'wef} — of  the  Cimbri  to  the  »orth-eaft — of  the 
Carnabii  to  the  7iorth-'weft — The  ivhole  of  De'uonfhire  and  Corn^vall  reduced  by  the  Dan- 
monii. — II.  Di'vifion  of  Danmonium  into  difriSls  or  clanjhips — a  number  of  clanfi)ips  forming 
a  cantred — a  number  of  cantreds,  fuppofed  to  ha-ue  been  fix  in  Danvionium,  forming  a 
kingdom — Landed  Property — Tenures  of  Lands — Ser^vices  cf  the  Chiejs — of  the  Villains.-— 
III.  Danmonian  Government — Seats  of  Judicature  in  the  danfhips,  cantreds  and  kingdom 
of  Danmonium — Probable  Veftiges  of  Courts  or  Judgment-feats  in  each  of  the  fix  cantreds— 
Prefiding  Officers  in  the  Courts — Princes  of  Danmonium,  as  reported  in  the  Brit  ijh  chronicles. 

SECTION      III. 

FIEW  of  the  RELIGION  of  DANMONIUM,  In  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Druidifm  the  Religion  of  Danmonium— its  great  Antiquity  in  this  Jfiand — e~jidently  deri-ved 
from  the  Eafi,  not  the  Continent  of  Europe. — II.  Its  Doilrines — fecret — popular.  —  III.  Its 
Rites  and  Ceremonies. — IV.  Its  Temples.— V.  Parallel  betzveen  the  Danmonian s  and  the 
Perfians — proving  the  Eaflern  Origin  of  the  Danmonians^Contrary  Opinions  examined.— 
VI.  The  corrupt  Religion  of  the  Phenicians—of  the  Grefks'^of  the  Tribes  from  the  neigh- 
bouring Continent, 

a  z  SECTION 


(      v1     ) 

SECTION       IV. 

riEirofibe  CiriL,  MUATARY,  anJ  religious  architecture  ofDANMOmUM^ 

I.  'Tkt:  Dr.nmonian  Houfes— 'their  Fciim  and  Materials — their  Situation — The  Danmonian 
Cci'verns — The  Danmoiiijn  Toivh,  conjijiing  of  a  Manfiov-Uoufe,  and  a  number  of  inferior 
Houfes — a  Beacon  o-verlcoking  it — aRoad  Jrom  one  To-wn  to  another — Vejiiges  of  the  Eritifh 
Houfes  on  Dartmoor — Britijh  Caverns  in  De-vo7:Jhire  and  Corn-rvall — Line  of  Beacons  on 
each  Side  of  the  Jugum  Ocrinmn—and  on  the  Jugum  Ocrinuni  itfelf. — II.  Archite^ure  of 
the  Britons  more  refpeclable  than  it  is  ufually  conftdcrcd — City  of  Exeter — Pla7i  of  a  Britijh 
City  on  a  Gold  Coin  of  the  Britons,  probably  Exeter  —  Exmoitth—Okehampton — Dre-.vfeignton 
--^Totnes — Armcnton — Els  mi  on — Tame  ra  —  /  ''oluha  —  Uxella  —  Cenia-—  Termolus — Arta-via 
—Mujidum — Halangiu/n —  Redruth —  Military  StmJIures — Karnbre-Cajile — Cafles  luith 
Keeps —  Rougemont-Cafle —  Okehambron-Cafiie —  Totnes-Cafile —  Plyjnton-Cajile  —  Trema- 
ton-Cafile — Refiormcl-Cafle—  Launcefon-C,tjUe—BritiJl}  Roads  in  I)an?n07iiutn. — III.  Reli- 
gious Architeilure — the  Rock  Idol — the  Logan- Stone — the  Rock-Bafoi: — tke  fingle  Stone - 
Pillar — tivo,  three,  or  more  Stcne-Pillars — Circular  Stone-Pillars — tke  Cromlech — AJfem- 
blage  of  Druidical  Monuments  at  Drei.-:J1eignton — the  Stonehcnge  tf  the  Druids,  or  the 
complete  Druid  Temple. — IV.  Phenician,  Grecian,  and  Belgic  Temples — the  Barrovj — 
CoKclufon. 

SECTION       V. 

VIEW  of  PASTURAGE  and  AGRICULTURE  in  D AMMONIUM,  during  the  BRITISH 

PERIOD. 

I.  Danmonium,  originally,  a  Wildernefs-—The  Ground  prepared  for  Pafturage—-The  flocks 
and  herds  of  the  Danmonians — Dartmoor  and  Exmocr. — II.  Agriculture — Cafar  quoted— 
The  Danmonian  Farm---Orchard  or  Garden. — III.  Remarkable  Fertility  of  the  Ifland,  as 
reported  by  tke  Phenicians  and  Greeks  ;  a  plain  Proof  of  its  njery  early  Inhabitation. 

SECTION       VI. 

yiEiV  of  MINING  in  DANMONIUM,  during  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  ^hiarries — Tin-Jhoding — Streaming — VefUges  of  Tin-Works  in  different  parts  of  Defonjhire 
—Lead — Iron— Gold— Silver. — II.  Preparation  of  thefe  Metals  Jor  Ufe. — III.  Conclufion. 

SECTION      vir. 

VIEW  of  tke  MANUFACTURES  of  DANMONIUM,  in  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Necefj'ary  and  Secondary  Arts— Among  the  neceffary  Arts,  Cloathing-—The  Cloth-Manufac- 
ture and  the  Art  of  Dyeing  Cloth,  knovjn  to  the  Aborigines II.  Among  the  fecondary  Arts, 

the  Danmonians  faille  d  in  the  ^juorkijig  of  Wood-— and  in  the  ^orki?ig  of  Metals— -Tin,  Lead, 
Brafs,  Iron,  varioufly  manifadured--the  War-Chariot,  an  admirable  SpeYimen  of  Britijh 
ingenuity— Gold  and  Silver-Smiths— Pottery-— Clafs III.  Conclufion, 

SECTION       VIII. 
VIEW  of  the  COMMERCE  of  DANMONIUM,  in  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I  Interned  Commerce— Trade  nvith  the  Phenicians-When  firjl  efablijhed— Where— Phenician 
'  Exports--Impcrts— Trade  nvith  the  Grecks--Greek  Exports— Imports— Trade  ^vith  the 
Romans— Greeks  of  Marfeilles—PafTage  from  Diodorus  Siculus  difcuffed— Various  Emporia 
on  the  coofts  of  Danmonium— Ncvj  channels  of  Commerce  opened  in  Gaul— The  Britijh  Trade 
m  longer  confined  to  Danmonium.— \l.  Land-carriages  of  the  Danmonians— Ships— The 
Danmonians  not  ignorant  either  of  Ship -building  or  of  Navigation.— III.  The  Trade  of 
Danmonium  mt  carried  on  by  v.'ay  of  Barter,  according  to  the  common  opinion.— The  Dan- 
7nonians  acquainted  ivith  the  ufe'of  Mortey—Conclufioii. 

SECTION 


SECTION       IX. 

riEH^  of  the  LANGUAGE  and  LEARNING  of  the  DANMONIANS,  during  the  BRITlSti 

PERIOD. 

I.  The  Danmonian  or  Britijh  Tongue,  in  its  firji  fiage---its  aff.7iity  to  the  Irifh  and  the  Erfe 
...Words,  Compofitions-- -The  Britijh,  the  Irijb,  and  the  Erfe,  immediately  derinjed  from  the 
Eaft.-.The  Danmonian  Language,  in  its  fecond  ftage ;  or  the  Britifj-Phenician---Wordsy 
Compojitions — The  Danmonian  Langua'^e,  in  its  third  f  age,  as  enriched  by  the  Greek--- 
The  Danmonian  Language  in  its  fourth  ftage,  as  corrupted  by  the  Belgic-.Under  thefe 

modifications,  the  Danmonian  tongue  entitled  Cornubritifh II.  The  Sciences  and  the  Arts 

of  the  DanmoJiians, — III.  Seminaries  of  Learning  in  Danmonium — Conclufion. 

SECTION       X. 

riElVof  the  PERSONS  and  POPULATION  of  the  DANMONIANS,  during  the  BRITISH 

PERIOD. 

I.  yieiv  of  the  Perfons  of  the  Danmonians — Cafar^s  diftinSlion  het^ween  the  maritime  Brita:: 
from  Gaul,  and  the  Aborigines — the  Aborigines  of  Danmonium,  refembling  the  Irijh  and  thi 
Highlanders,  in  ftature,  bodily  ftrength,  fair  complexion,  and  red  hair — in  thefe  points 
more  like  the  oriental  nations,  than  the  Gaulifh  tribes. — II.  Pheniciansy  Greeks,  and 
Gaulifti  tribes. — III.  Populoufnefs  of  the  IJland,  at  the  clofe  of  this  Period. 


SECTION      XI. 


p.   (<J 


VIEW  of  the  CHARACTER,  MANNERS,  and  USAGES  of  the  DANMONIANS,  during 

the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  The  Courage  of  the  Danmonians — their  reftlefs  Acli'vity — their  Simplicity — their  Fidelity 
and  Attachment  to  their  refpeSii-je  Tribes — their  Frugality — their  Hofpitality — their  Cha- 
ratler  from  Diodorus — their  refentful  Te?npcr — their  Cruelty — their  intemperate  Curiofityt 
a  Grecian  feature — their  SupCrftiticn. — II.  The  modes  of  Addrefs  among  the  Danmonians 
— their  matrimonial  Contiexions — their  Drefs — their  domeftic  Accommodations  and  Ufages — 
their  Diet — their  principal  Sports — their  Cuftoms  in  War,  and  military  Apparatus,  parti- 
cularly the  fey  the  d  Chanot — Examination  of  the  queftion,  ^whether  the  fcythed  Chariot  nxjas 
Oriental  or  Gaulijh — The  Rites  of  Sepulture  in  Danmonium. — III.  CharaSier,  Manners, 
and  Ufages  of  the  Danmonians,  highly  favourable  to  the  Eaftern  Hypothejis — This  Hypothefs 
founded  on  ftrong  circumftantial  E-vidence  j  •which,  on  a  re-view  of  the  ivhole  Chaptert 
feems  irrefftible. 


VOLUME 


(     vi     ) 

VOLUME     II. 

The     ROM  an- BRITISH     PERIOD: 
From  the  Arrival  of  Julius  C^sar,  to  the  Time  of  Vortigern. 


iRWiUUclKQKtJSW  !<<ri  euu 


CHAPTER      II. 


SECTION     I. 


riElV  of  CIVIL   and  MILlTARr  tRANSACnONS    in   DANMONIUM,   during  the 
ROMAN-BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Princes  of  Danmonium. — II.  Firft  Scene  of  the  Roman  Operations  in  Danmonium — clofing 
I'jith  the  Conquefs  of  Fefpafian — Second  Scene,  marked  by  In'vajions  from  the  Coafs  of 
Ireland — Third  Scene,  dijiinguijhed  by  the  hofilities  of  the  Saxons. 

SECTION       II. 

VIEW  of  the  CIVIL  and  MILITARY  CONSTITUTION  of  DANMONIUM,  during  the 
ROMAN-BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Roman  Danmonium,  a  part  of  Britannia  Prima — Emigrations — State  of  Property. — 11. 
Go'vernment,  Ciuil  and  Military — Regulations  'with  rcfpeii  to  the  Mines. — III.  Gcvern- 
ment  of  the  principal  To'wns. 

SECTION       III. 

VIEIV  of  the  RELIGION  of  DANMONIUM,  during  the  ROMAN-BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Decline  and  Fall  of  Druidifm.—ll.  Polytheifm. — III.  IntroduBion  and  eflablifhment  of 
Chrifiianity. 

SECTION       IV. 

VIEW  of  the  CIVIL  and  MILITARY,  and  the  RELIGIOUS  ARCHITECTURE  of  ^O- 

MAN-DANMONIUM. 

I.  Itineraries  of  Roman  Roads — General  ohfermations  on  Roman  Roads  and  Stations.— II. 
Firft  Scene  of  military  a£lion — Roman-Briti/I:,  or  Roman  Roads  in  Danmonium — the  Foffe- 
ctijay — the  Ikenild- Street — Road  from  Exeter  to  Okebatnpton  and  Launcefon — Road  from 
Batnpton  to  Stratton — Road  from  Dul'verton  to  Hertland. — Fortified  To'Txms  on  thofe  Roads, 
or  in  their  •vicinity — Axminjler  ;  Honiton;  Hembury-Ford ;  Moridunum  or  Seaton  ;  Ottery; 
Exeter  ;  Teignmouth  ;  Torbay  \  Totnes ;  Dartmouth  ;  Ply?nton-Ridge--way  ;  Tamerton  j 
Lejkard  ;  Loji'-withiel — Okehampton  ;  Lidford ;  Launcefion — Bampton;  Torrington  ;  Strat- 
ton— Dul'verton;    Molland;    North -jnolton  ;    Barnftaple  ;    Bideford  ;    Hertland Second 

Scene  of  military  adion — Summer  Stations  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  principal  Toivns 
— Chains  oj  Encampment  chiefly  o«  the  north-Coaft,  and  to  the  north-nveft. — Third  Scene 
of  military  action — Camps,  chiefly  in  the  eafl  of  Denjon,  and  in  the  fouth-^uiefl.— III. 
Traces  oj  f acred  Buildings  and  their  appendages,  in  Roman- Danmonium — Barroivs. 


SECTION 


(     vii     ) 

SECTION      V. 

nElF  of  AGRICULTURE  in  DANMONIUM,  during  the  ROMAN-BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I,  Pajlurage-Grounds — Impro'ved  Mode  of  Hujhattdiy — Land-tax. — II.  Plantalions.-^lll. 
Fiitas  of  the  Danmonians  and  Romans, 

SECTION       VI. 

FIEjr  of  MINING  in  DANMONIUM,  during  the  ROMAN-BRHISH  PERIOD. 

1.  The  Mines  of  Danmonium,  an  ohjeSl  of  Attention  to  the  Romans. — II.  Mode  of  ^working 
for  Tin — Gold  found  a?nong  the  Stream-Tin — Iron-Works. — III.  The  Refning  of  Metals. 

SECTION       VII. 
nEW of  MANUFACTURES  in  DANMONIUM,  during  the  ROMAN-BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  hnprovement  of  the  Datimonian  Manufa/lures.— II.  The  Cloaihing-Arts — Arts  of  the  Car- 
penter and  the  Joiner-^Art  of  nvorking  Metals — the  Potter'' s  Art. 

SECTION       VIII. 
VIEW  of  COMMERCE  in  DANMONIUM,  during  the  ROMAN-BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Danmonian  Exports — Imports— Principal  Ports — Officers  of  the  Cuftoms — Foreign  Ports — 
Roads  in  Danmonium — Land-carriage — Ri-uers — Internal  Na-uigation — Trading  Vejfels — 
Fairs  and  Markets. — II.  Money-.-Coins  difco'vered  in  different  Parts  of  Damnoniurn — 
Roman-Britijh  Mint  at  Exeter. 

SECTION       IX. 

VIEW  of  the  LANGUAGE  and  LITERATURE  of  DANMONIUM,  during  the  ROMAN- 

BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  The  Britijh  Tongue,  as  affeSied  by  the  Latin  Language — the  Cornubritijh — the  Welfh — the 
Armorican.-—\\.  The  Literature  of  Danmonium. — III.  Learned  Men. 

SECTION       X. 

VIEW  of  the   INHABITANTS    of  DANMONIUM,    during   the  ROMAN -BRITISH 

PERIOD. 

I,  Connexion  of  the  Nati'ves  of  Danmonium  ^vith  the  Romans.'— \1.  Gradual  Changes  in  the 
Perfons  of  the  Natimes. 

S  E  C  T  I  ON       XI. 

VIEW  of  the  MANNERS  and  USAGES  of  DANMONIUM,  during  the  ROMAN-BRITISH 

PERIOD. 

I.  Infinuating  Manners  of  the  Romans — their  effeSf  on  the  Danmonians. — II.  Drefs— Baths- 
Diet. — III.  Conclufion. 


b  2  VOLUME 


(     viii     ) 

VOLUME    in. 

The    SAXO-DANISH    PERIOD: 
From   VoRTiGERN   to  William    the  Concvlteror. 


CHAPTER      III. 

SECTION      I. 

riBlV  of  the  CiriL  and  MILITARY  HISTORY  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  SAXO^ 

DANISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Dijlrcfs  of  Britain  abandoned  by  Rome — Fortigern,  Earl  of  Danmonium — The  Saxons  in 
DevoKjhire — Heroic  Atchievements  of  Arthur — Wejl'cx — Various  contefs  bet^jceen  theCornu- 
britons  and  Saxons — the  SucceJJion  pf  hia — Exeter  entered  by  the  Saxons — a  Danijh  Fleet 
at  the  -ivefern  Coafs— Egbert,  the  Weft-Saxon  Monarch,  King  of  England — "Jundion  of 
the  Cornuhritijb  and  Daniftj  Forces — Battles  bet'cjcen  the  Saxons  and  Cornubritons  and 
Danes—Alfred — Danes  -luintering  at  Exeter,  under  the  protection  of  the  Cornubritons — a 
Danift}  Fleet  failing  for  Exeter,  dijperfed  in  a  for?n — Land- army  of  the  Danes  marching 
ioivards  Exeter — routed  by  Afred — Danes  obliged  to  abandon  the  City  of  Exeter — Frequent 
defcent  of  the  Danes,  on  the  ccafts  cf  Devon  and  CcrntL-aU — Danes  befeging  Exeter— 
Seven  Danijh  Princes  landing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Axe—Oppofcd  by  Athclft an— Great 
jlaughter  en  both  fides — Allied  armies  of  the  Cornubritons,  Irijh,  Scots,  Weljh,  and  Danes 
—Aihelfian  'vicarious — Cornubritons  abandoning  Exeter— pojjing  the  Tamar — the  Tamar 
a  bounda'-y  betiveen  Devon  and  Corn-jjall— Depredations  of  the  Danes  in  the  Weft—Exe- 
ter befieged  by  Svoeno — taken  by  form,  and  burnt  to  the  ground — Exeter  reco'vered  from 
the  Danes. 

SECTION       II. 

VIEW  of  the  CIVIL  and  MILITARY  CONSTITUTION  of  DEVONSHIRE,   during  the 

SAXO-DANISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Saxon  Heptarchy — Kingdom  ofWeJfex — Devonftiire  and  Cornv^all  included  in  it — the  Hep- 
tarchy united  under  Egbert — Alfred — His  Sur'vey  of  the  --whole  Kingdom — Athelftan — 
Devon  and  Cornivall  divided  into  tvjo  Counties — II.  Dukes  and  Earls  of  De'von  and  Com- 
aisall- --Civil  and  Military  Government-Stannary  Regulations- --III.  Go-vernment  of 
Tozuns— Exeter — the  Portgrecve. 

SECTION       III. 
VIEW  of  RELIGION  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  SAXb-DANISH  PERIOD. 

I.   Religious  Perfuaftons  in  Devon  and  Cornvoall---TheDdoric,  the    Pagan  Prince — Arthur, 

the  Chriftian  Hero II.  Bift^opric  of  Dorckefter  near  Oxford- --Devon  and  Cornvjall  a 

part  of  it---Birinus,  the  firft  Eifhop—-Bift:opric  of  Wine kefter- --Devon  and  Cornivall  a 
part  of  it---Bift>opric  of  Sherborne---Devon  and  Cornvjall  a  part  of  it---Bifhopric  of 
Devon--- Epifcopal  Sees  at  Bifhop^ s-Tavjton  and  Crediton — Bifoopric  of  Corntvall — Sees 
at  Bodmin  and  St.  Gcrmains — Devon  and  Cornvjall  united  under  one  Bift^opric — See 
removed  from  Credi:on  to  Exeter---\\\.  Religious  Foundations ---The  Cathedral  Church  at 
Exeter-- -Religious  Houfes,'--lV .  Synods, 

SECTION 


(     i>^     ) 

S  E  C  T  I  O  N       IV. 

i-'IElf^  of  CIFIL,  MtLlTART,  and  RELIGIOUS  ARCHHECTl/RE  in  DErONSHIREf 
during  the  SAXO-DANISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Buildings  in  general,  as  fcattered  ouer  the  County — Roads. — II.  Ciuil  ArckiteSfure — Exeter 
— Barnftaple — in  the  ti?ne  of  Athelfian. — III.  Military  ArchiteSlurs-^Saxon  and  Danijh 
Caftles—'  Rou^emcnt-Cajlle. —  IV.  Rn'igious  Archite^.ve — at  'fa^wton — at  Crediton—at 
Exeter — Cathedral  Church  at  Exeter — Progrefs  of  the  Building — Al^b^y  at  Ta'uijlock. 

SECTION       V. 

FIEircf  AGRICULTURE,  PLANTATIONS,  and  GARDENS  in  DEFON SHIRE,  during 
the  SAXO-DANISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Agriculture  on  the  decline  at  the  beginning  of  this  Period — Fillanage  ejtablijhed  uy  the  Sax- 
ons — Kinglna — his  encouraga;ient  of  Agriculture — his  LaiJjs  relating  to  it. — II,  Fineyardsi 

SECTION       VI. 
VIEJF  of  MINING  in  DEFONSHIRE,  during  the  SAXO-DANISH  PERIOD; 
I .   Tin-mines  greatly  negleSled  during  this  Period. 

SECTION       VII. 

FIEF/  of  MANUFACTURE  in  DEFONSHIRE,  during  the  SAXO-DANISH  PERIOD. 
1.  Exeter — State  of  its  ManufaStures — T amer-^vorth  or  Ply??:outh. 

SECTION       VIII. 
VIEIF  of  COMMERCE  in  DEFONSHIRE,  during  the  SAXO-DANISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Navigation  encouraged  by  the  lanvs  of  King  Athelfian — Fairs  and  Markets  regulated  by 
the  Saxon  Kings— Mints  at  Exeter,  Lidford,  and  Totnes. 

SECTION       IX. 

VIEJV  of  the  LANGUAGE,  LITERATURE,   and  LEARNED  MEN  tn  DEFONSHIREt 
during  the  SAXO-DANISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Cornubritijl}  Language  in  Dei-onfkire  and  Cornvjall — the  Saxon  Tongue — Names  of  Places 
greatly  altered  by  the  Saxons. — II.  Seininaries  of  Education. — III.  St.  F/inifred-~St.  Bur- 
chard — Frederic  de  Credit  on— Alfred — Garland — among  the  literary  CharaSers  of  this 
Period. 

SECTION       X.     " 

VIEW  of  the  INHABITANTS  of  DEFONSHIRE,  during  the  SAXO-DANISH  PERIOD, 

The  Cornubritons — the  Saxon  Race — State  of  Population. 

SECTION      Xr. 

yiEW  of  the  MANNERS  and  USAGES  of  DEFONSHIRE,  during  the  SAXO-DANISH 

PERIOD. 

Charafier  of  the  Saxons— Fejii'vals ; 


thi 


The    NORM  AN- SAXON    PERIOD; 
From  William  the  Conqueror  to  Edward  the  First. 


C    H    A    P    T    E    R      IV. 

SECTION      I. 

riEWofthe  CIFIL  and  MILirARY  HISTORT  of  DEVONSHIRE,  Junng  the  NORMAN- 
SAXON  PERIOD. 

William  the  Co/iqueror — CcndaSI  of  the  City  of  Exeter — S'ege  of  Exeter — Capitulation  of  the 
Cftj  of  Exeter — Oath  of  Allegiance  taken  by  the  Exotiians — Ba/J-vin  Rii^ers,  farl  of  De- 
'von,  filing  vjith  the  Emprefs  Ma-u.\l  againji  King  Stephen — Siege  of  Rougetncnt-Caftle  by 
King  Stephen  —long  and  defperate — Exonians  furrcndering  tkenfeli'es  prifoners  at  difcretion 
— M^lliam  de  Tracey  one  of  the  murderers  of  Beth  t — Dartmouth  burnt  by  the  French  in  the 
reign  of  Richard  the  Firjf — Exeter  befeged  by  the  Barons — Commifjion  fro?n  King  John  to 
Robert  de  Courtenay  and  ether  Gentle7nen  of  De'vorflnre — Henry  de  Brezver — Lis  rank  and 
infiuence  in  Devonjhire — Confpiracy  oflViUiafn  Morifco — his  Flight  to  the  I/le  of  Lutidy. 

SECTION       II. 

FIEf^:  of  the  CIFIL  and  MILirARY  CONSTITXITION  of  DEFON SHIRE,    during  the 
NORMAN-SAXON  PERIOD. 

A  -oery  curious  Paper  (ne'ver  yet  pritiied)  entitled  Modus  tenendi  Parliamentum,  fuppofed  to 
ha-ce  been  dran.vn  up  by  Willia/n  the  Conqueror. 

SECTION       III. 

VIEW  of  RELIGION  in  DEFONSHIRE,  during  the  NORMAN-SAXON  PERIOD. 

The  Normans — Bijhops  of  Exeter  during  the  Norman  Period — Leofricus,  Ofertus,  Warle^wafl 
— Chick  ejier — IVarleivaJI — Bart  hoi.  If c  anus — John  the  Char.tcr  —  Marjhall — Simon  de 
Apulia — Bre^wer — Blondy — Brofcmbe — Religious  Foundations  and  Endor-vments  during  the 
Gonjernment  of  each  Bifhcp — Archdeaconries — Deanries — Parifh -Churches — Foundations  nf 
Monafteries,  &c.  &c. — Hijlory  of  thefe  religious  Houfes — Synods — Ecclefiafical  Courts— 
fonducl  of  the  Bijhops  and  other  e7ninent  Perfons  inDe-vonfiire,  as  influenced  by  the  religious 
fpirit  of  the  times. 

SECTION       IV. 

FIEfT  of  ARCHITECTURE,  CIFIL,  MILITARY,  and  RELIGIOUS,  during  the  NOR- 

MAN- SAXON  PERIOD. 

I.  General  Obfervations  on  the  mode  of  Building  among  the  Peafantry — on  Gentlemen"  s  Seats 
or  Fillas — on  the  military  Works  of  the  Nonnans — on  Cajlles — on  the  religious  Structures  of 
this  Period. — II.  The  City  of  Exeter — Rougemc7it-CaJ}le — the  Cathedral — the  principal 
To-mns  in  De-i;onJbire,  and  the  Buildings  in  the  neighbourhood  of  each  Totvn,  furveyed  in 
the  fame  manner — Moreleigh -Church,  built  at  this  Period. 

SECTION       V. 

VIEJV  of  AGRICULTURE,   PLANTATIONS,  and  GARDENS,  during  the  NORMAN- 
SAXON  PERIOD. 

Little  attention  paid  to  AgriculturC'^Continual  fluctuation  betiveea  Plenty  and  Famine. 

SECTION 


(     xi     ) 

SECTION      VI. 

riEJF  of  MINING  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  NORMAN-SAXON  PERIOD. 

Iforhing  of  the  Mines  encouraged  by  the  Normans — De-uonfhire  producing  great  quantities  of 
'Tyu—^he  Dartmoor  Tin-n.vorks  in  the  reign  of  King  John. 

SECTION       VII. 

VIEW  of  the  MANUFACTURES  of  DEVONSHIRE,   during  the  NORMAN-  SAXON 

PERIOD. 

SECTION       VIII. 

yiEJV  of  the  COMMERCE  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  NORMAN-SAXON  PERIOD. 

Trade  of  Det'onjhire,  at  the  time  of  the  Conqueft— Exeter —its  foreign  Connexions  extenfwe — 
li'abdla  de  Fortibus — Tin  trade  'very  confiderahle — Markets  at  Exeter,  Axminfer,  Honiton, 
Teignmouth,  Moreton,  i^c.— Mints — at  Exeter — Gfr.  &c. 

SECTION       IX. 

VIEW  of  the  LANGUAGE,  LITERATURE,   and  LEARNED  MEN  of  DEVONSHIRE, 
durifig  the  NORMAN- SAXON  PERIOD. 

Normans  attempting  to  fubjfitute  the  Norman-French  for  the  Anglo-Saxon — the  Englifh  attached 
to  the  Saxon  Language — the  Cornuhritijh  in  De'vcn  and  Corn-ivall,  the  indgar  Tongue — 
ffcken  alfo  by  the  higher  ranks  of  people  in  Corn-vall,  and  a  great  part  of  De-vonfhire—^ 
Attention  to  the  Sciences — to  the  polite  Arts — Latin  Poetry — Schools — Men  of  literary  emi- 
nence in  De'vonjhire—fuch  as  Johannes  Dev^ius — Richard  Fijhacre — Henry  de  Bathe-^ 
Henry  de  BraSion — Simon  Fraxinus — Jofephus  Ifcanus — Alexander  Necham. 

SECTION       X. 

VIEW  of  the  INHABITANTS  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  NORMAN-SAXON  PERIOD. 

Ihe  Normans — their  bodily  Strength — AFiiijity — the  Plague  in  De-vonjhire — its  Ra-vages  in 
the  Wejf,  particularly  in  the  City  of  Exeter,  in  the  Reign  of  Henry  the  Third — The  Leprofy 
at  Exeter — Dearth — Inundations. 

SECTION      Xt. 

VIEW  of  the  MANNERS,  (^c.  and  USAGES  in  DEVOhSHIRE,  during  the  NORMAN- 

SAXON  PERIOD. 

Intemperate  difputes  among  the  Count\'-Gentlemen — Tyranny  of  the  Lords  of  Manors— Injiances 
of  fuch  Difputes  and  Tyranny  in  Dcvonjlire-^ Manners  of  the  Clergy — Cockfghting, 


VOLUME 


(     xii     ) 

VOLUME    IV. 

The     SAXO-LANCASTRIAN-YORKISI-I     PERIOD; 

CHAPTER      V. 

SECTION     I. 

riElf^  of  the  CU'IL  and  MILlTARr  HISTORT  of  DErONSH'iRE,   during  the  SAXO. 
LAi\CASrRIAN-rORKISH  FERIOD. 

French  landing  at  Plymouth— rep ulfcd  by  Hu^h  Courtenciy — James  Lord  Audlry,  Sir  J. 
Careiv,  Brian  Lord  Guy,  diftiiiguijbed  as  Tvarlike  charaJiers — Dartmouth,  enriched  by  the 
Spoils  of  France — a  great  part  of  Plymouth  burnt  by  the  French — Defcent  of  the  French  at 
Dartmouth — Era-very  of  the  Inhabitants — Co?iteff  betxveen  the  houfes  of  Lane  after,  and 
York — Condu^  of  De-vonfl^ire  —principal  Families  in  De-v^nfive  at  this  Crifis — Richard 
Edgciitnbe,  knighted  by  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  after  the  Battle  of  Bofxvorth — Per  kin  War- 
heck — Sieges  of  Exeter. 

S  E  C  T  I  O  N       IT. 

VIEW"  of  the  CIVIL  and  MILITARY  CONSTITUTION'  of  DEVONSHIRE,   during  the 
SAXO-L  ANCASTRIAN- TOR  KISH  PERIOD . 

SECTION       III. 

VIEfV  of  RELIGION  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  SAXO-LANCASTRIAN-YORKISH 

PERIOD. 

Syno'd  held  at  Exeter,  in  1187. 

SECTION       IV. 

VIEW  of  ARCHITECTURE,  CIVIL,  MILITARY,  and  RELIGIOUS,  during  the  SAXO- 
LANCASTRIAN-YORKISH  PERIOD. 

Grandeur  of  the  Buildings  in  the  time  of  Edrvard  the  Firft — The  Palace  in  the  Reign  of  Ed- 
ivard  the  Third — Cathedrals — Parijh-Churchcs — Marks  by  'which  the  Churches  of  this 
Period  may  be  di/Iingui/hed — St.  Budeaux- Church,  built  about  the  Year  1400 — Bulkixjor- 
thy,  in  14.20. — II.  Public  Roads — ArchiteSlural  Sur--oey  of  Exeter — Streets  ne-ivly  pa-ved — 
the  Guildhall— the  Cathedral — Ottery  St.  Mary — its  collegiate  Church — other  To-wns  and 
Buildings  in  Dcvon/htre. 

SECTION      V. 

VIEW  of  AGRICULTURE,  PLANTATIONS,  and  GARDENS,  during  the  SAXO-L  AN- 
CASTRIAN-YORKISH  PERIOD. 

Sea-Ore  and  Sand  ufed  as  Manures — IJle  of  Lundy  not  "  abounding  'with  Vineyards;"  ai 
Mr.  Pegge  fuppofes. 

SECTION       IV. 

VIEW  of  MINING  in  DEVONSHIRE,    during  the  SAXO  -  LANCASTRIAN -YORKISH 

PERIOD. 

Mines  at  Combmartin — at  Berefetrers. 

SECTION 


(     xiii     ) 

SECTION       VII. 

rtEW  of  the  MANUFACrURES  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  SAXO-LANCAStRIAN- 

roRKlSH  PERIOD. 

lie  King's  agents  ia'viting  the  Dutch  Apprentices  into  England — great  Pri'vikges  granted  ta 
the  Clotb -Workers — State  of  Mairufaciures  at  Exeter — at  Ti'verton. 

SECTION       VIII. 

VIEW  of  the   COMMERCE   of  DEVONSHIRE,   during  the    SAXO  -  LANCASTRIAN- 

7VRKISH  PERIOD. 

Exeter,  confdered  in  a  commercial  light — Plymouth — Dartmouth— the  principal  Harbours  In 
the  county  of  De^uon — Pairs  and  Markets — Lommodities — Coinage. 

SECTION       IX. 

VIEW  of  the  LANGUAGE,  LITERATURE,  and  LEARNED  MEN  of  DEVONSHIRE^ 
during  the  SAXO-LANCASTRIAN-YORKISH  PERIOD. 

The  French  Language  njery  generally  adopted  in  Engla/id — the  Anglo-Saxon  /fill  the  ^verna^ 
cular  tongue — the  Cornuhritijh  almoft  loji  in  Exeter — retained  in  a  great  part  of  the  South- 
atHs — Seminaries  of  Learning,  particularly  Grammar -Schools,  in  De'vonjhire — Divines — 
John  de  Bampton — Fitz-Ralph — J.  Cutcliffe — Walter  Britt  —  Courtenay,  and  others — 
Lawyers —  Fulfard — Wadham —Hill — Hankford — Fitz — Fortefcue — Sir  Thomas  Lyttelioft-, 
and  others. 

SECTION       X. 

VIEW  of  the  INHABITANTS  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  S AXO- LANCASTRIAN- 

rORKISH  PERIOD. 

Surprizing  refemblance  and  fympathy  hetnjoeen  the  T-ivin-Sons  of  Henry  Tracey — repeated 
detjaftations  of  the  Plague  in  the  Weft  of  England — the  Leprofy  freqi^nt  in  Exeter. 

SECTION       XI. 

VIEW  of  MANNERS  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  SAXd-LANCASTRlAN-7VRKISH 

PERIOD. 


The  PERIOD  of  the  UNITED  HOUSES  and  CROWNS. 

CHAPTER      VI. 

SECTION      I. 

VIEW  of  the  CIVIL  and  MILITARY  HISTORY  of  DEVONSHIRE," during  the  PERIOD 
of  the  UNITED  HOUSES  and  CROWNS. 

Henry  the  Eighth — Det'onjhire,  as  affeeled  by  the  dijfolution  of  religious  Houfes—Infurreilions 
in  feveral  Counties  in  England— particularly  in  De'vonjhire — Rebels  at  Sampford-Ccurtenay 
—Seymour,  Duke  of  Somerfet,  the  Lord  Protector — John  Lord  Rufel — Humphrey  Arundel 
—Exeter  befeged  by  the  Rebels — Lord  Grey — Defeat  of  the  Rebels — Pomeroy  of  Berry -Caftle 
• — his  Dijloyalty — to  compound  for  his  Life,  yielding  up  his  Caftle  to  the  Lord  ProteSior^ 
Siueen  Mary's  Attachment  to  Lord  Ed-ivard  Courtenay — Sir  Richard  Edgcumbe — the  Spa- 
ni/b  Armada-^Sir  John  Ha-wkins — Sir  Francis  Drake — Sir  Walter  P^aleigh — James  the 
firft.-~Sir  Robert  BaJ/et,  of  Heanton-Court — his  Pretenftons  to  the  Crown  of  England. 

d  SECTION 


(     'fiv     ) 

SECTION       IT, 

PIEW  efthe  CU'IL  and  MILITARY  CONsnrUTION  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  ihs 
PERIOD  of  the  UNITED  HOUSES  and  CROU'NS. 

I.  Different  ranks  of  People — Titles — Baronets. -—W.  Lord  Lieutenants — Sheriffs — Irregula- 
rities iv  regard  to  the  office  of  Sheriff— Judges  of  Affizes—Comty-SeJJions — Gaols — remark- 
able Executions. — III.  Military  EJlahiiJhment. — IV.  Dutchy  of  Co-nnvall — Stannary  Re- 
gulations— Lidford-Gaol. — V.  De-vonjhire,  Members  oj  Parliament  for  the  County — Jor  the 
principal  Toivus. 

SECTION       III. 

flElF of  RELIGION  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  UNITED  HOUSES 

and  CROJVNS. 

I.  General  Survey  of  Religion  from  Henry  the  Eighth  to  Charles  the  Tirfl. — II.  Statute  of 
Henry  the  Eighth,  relating  to  the  Firji. Fruits,  &c.  &c. — III.  Bi/hops  of  Exeter — Hugh 

Oldham John  Vcyfey — Miles  Coverdale — John  Voyfey — James  Iroublefield — Wm.  Alleigh 

—V/illiaviBradhridge — John  Wolton — Ger<vis  Babington — William  Cotton — Valentine  Cary. 

IV.  Archdeaconries  —  Deanries — Parijhes — Parochial  Regijlers  —  Wolfey  ( afternvards 

Cardinal  Wolfey )  Redor  of  Torrington. — V.  Collegiate  Churches. — VI.  Dtfolution  of  Reli- 
gious Houfes. — VII.  Hofpitals. — VIII.  Synods,  Vijitations,  &c.  &c. — IX.  Religious  Cka- 
raSers. -X.  Co}itro'verfies — Schifms — Perfecutions — Dr.  Matthevj  Suttliff,  Dean  of  Exeter. 

S  E  C  T  I  O  N       IV. 

nEW  of  ARCHITECTURE,  CIVIL,  MILITARY,  and  RELIGIOUS,  during  the  PERIOD 
of  the  UNITED  HOUSES  and  CROWNS. 

I.  Regular  quadrangular  Houfes — Style  of  the  Buildings  in  Elizabeth's  Reign. — II.  Exeter, 
as  defcribed  by  Leland  and  Camden — other  To^wns  in  De-vonJhire — Churches  erected  in  this 
Period^  Qich  as  Cru^s-Mor chard-Church,  built  in  1529. 

SECTION       V. 

VIEW  of  AGRICULTURE,  PLANTATIONS,  and  GARDENS  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during 
the  PERIOD  of  the  UNITED  HOUSES  and  CROWNS. 

SECTION      VI. 

riEIF  of  MINING  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  UNITED   HOUSES 

and  CROWNS. 

Combmartin  Mines  negleSied  till  the  Reign  of  Elizabeth — the  current  of  the  Dart  obfruSled 
by  the  -xvorking  of  the  Mines  on  Dartmoor. 

SECTION       VII. 

riEWofthe  MANUFACTURES  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  UNITED 

HOUSES  and  CROWNS. 

Manufactures  at  Exeter — at  Ti-verton — at  Pilton. 

SECTION      VIII. 

HEW  of  the   COMMERCE  of  DEVONSHIRE,   during  the   PERIOD  of  the  UNITED 

HOUSES  and  CROWNS. 

The  nenjo  Ha-ven  of  the  Exe — Plytnouth — Sir  Francis  Drake  a  great  Benefaiior  to  it — Har- 
hour  of  SeatoH  repaired— Sur-uey  of  the  principal  Havens  in  De'VonJhirg-^Exeter'^Crediton 
Markets  for  Wool,  Yavny  Kerfeys,  &c.  & c .—Coins-'Tokens . 

SECTION 


(      XV      ) 

SECTION      IX. 

FIEfFofthe  LANGUAGE,  LltERArURE,  and  LEARNED  MEN  of  DEVONSHIRE, 
during  the  PERIOD  of  tke  UNITED  EIOUSES  and  CROWNS, 

SECTION      X. 

VIEW  of  the  INHABITANTS  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  UNITED 

HOUSES  and  CROIFNS. 

State  of  Population— Infances  of  Strength  and  ASii-uity — of  female  Beauty— of  a  numerous 
Progeny — of  extraordinary  Birth i— of  Longe^vity — The  Plague,  often  lifting  Dei' on/hire, 
particularly  Exeter— Gaol-Feijer — its  Infetlion  fatal  to  the  Judge  andfe-t'eral  of  tke  Jury 
at  Exeter — Leprofy  at  Exeter,  and  fe'verod  To^wm  in  De'Von/hire—re?narkabls  Incidents 
— Firei  at  Ti-verton, 

S  E  C  T  I  O  N      XI. 

VIEW  of  MANNERS  and  USAGES   in   DEVONSHIRE,  during   the  PERIOD   of  the 
UNITED  HOUSES  and  CROWNS, 

General  Chara8er  of  the  Devonians — S^een  Elizabeth'' s  opinion  of  the  Denjonfhire  and  Cor- 
nijh  Gentlemen— young  People  educated  in  the  Houfes  of  the  Great — Diet  of  the  Inhabitants 
"—Di'verfions , 


VOLUME 


(     xvi     ) 

VOLUME    V. 

The  period  of  the  REBELLION  and  the  RESTORATION. 


CHAPTER      VII. 

SECTION     I. 

FIEW  of  tki  CIVIL  and  MILITART  HISTORT  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD 
of  ike  REBELLION  and  the  RESTORATION. 

Pyit  of  Charles  the  frj)  to  Plymsuih — his  Entertahwient  at  Ford,  Sir  Richard  Reynell^s — 
Rupture  betavcen  Charles  and  his  Parliament — principal  Totvjis  in  Denjonjhire,  publijking 
their  Declarations  againjl  the  arbitrary  meafures  oj  the  King — Senthnents  of  the  Cornijb 
more  favourable  to  the  royal  caufe —  Military  operations  at  all  the  principal  places  in 
Devon  and  Cormvcdl — Exeter  fe-uercd  times  befieged — her  nnjieadine/s — Plymouth  attached 
to  the  Parliament — ker  frmnejs —  Various  proceedings  in  De-vonJ}jire,  from  the  Execution 
of  Charles  the  Firji  to  the  Rejioraiion — General  Moak — Sir  Coplejlone  BampJyLle. 

S  E  C  T  I  O  N      II. 

riEUr  of  the  CIVIL  and  MILITARY  CONSTITUTION  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the 
PERIOD  of  the  REBELLION  and  RESTORATION. 

1.  Property — Titles — principal  Families. — II.  Ci--vil  Go-uernment  of  the  County — A£i%es. — 
III.  Militia. — IV.  Hijiory  of  the  Stojinaries. — V.  Devonjhire,  as  reprefented  in  Parlia- 
ment— Lxiter-,  and  the  principal  To-tvns  in  De-uonjbire. 

SECTION      III. 

VIEJV  of  RELIGION  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  REBELLION  and 

the  RESTORATION. 

I-  General  Ohfernjations  on  the  State  of  Religion  in  England,  and  more  particularly  in  De^on- 
Jbire. — II.  Cathedral  Church  of  Exeter — Bijhops — Jofeph  Hall,  Ralph  Bronvnrigg,  John 
Caiuicn,  Seth  Ward,  Anthony  Sparro-jo. — III.  Archdeaconries,  Deanries,  Parijh-Churches 
—Curious  Particulars  relating  to  feueral  Churches  in  Exeter. — IV.  Hofpitals — Charities, 
— V.  Synods,  &c, — VI.  Religious  Ckarailers. — VII.  Religious  Dijentions. 

SECTION      IV. 

nZfV  of  ARCHITECTURE,  CIVIL,  MILITARY,  avd  RELIGIOUS,  dttrhg  the  PERIOD  of 
the  REBELLION  and  RESTORATION. 

SECTION      V. 

FIEW  of  AGRICULTURE  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  REBELLION  and 

RESTORATION. 

SECTION      IV. 

VIEfV  of  MINING  la  DEVONSHIRE,  dunng  the  PERIOD  of  the  REBELLION  and 

RESTORATION. 

Lead  Mints  in  Devon<^Minti  at  Beerferrert. 

SECTION 


(      'XVii      ) 

-      SECTION       Vlli 

r/£/r  of  the  MANUFACTURES  of  DEVONSHIRE,  durhig  the  PERIOD  of  the  REBEl^ 
LION  and  the  RESIORAJION. 

ManufaSliires  in  Exeter — Crediton — Tiverton. 

SECTION       VIII. 

FIEW  of  the  COMMERCE  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  REBELLION 

and  the  RESTORATION. 

Na-vigation  of  the  River  Exe — of  other  Rivers — Harbours — Fi/heries— Fairs — Markets'-^ 
Coinage. 

SECTION       IX. 

FIEW  of  the  LANGUAGE,  LITERATURE,  and  LEARNED   MEN  of  DEVONSHIRBt 
during  the  PERIOD  of  the  REBELLION  and  RESTORATION. 

improveme?it  of  the  Englijh  Latiguage — Cornubritijh  Language  extinSl  even  in  the  iijefern 
extremity  of  Devonjhire — fpoken  m  the  vieftern  hundreds  of  Cornivall — Sermons  preached 
in  the  Cornubritijh,  fo  late  as  the  year  1678 — Proverbs — Schools — Diffufion  of  Literature 
— Learned  Men—  Divines —  Carpenter — Strode — Barkham — Prideaux — Spratt — Lawyer* 
— Maynard  —  Glanville  —  Phy  licians  —  Vilvain  — Bidgood—*  Davie  —  Ackland-^  Poets—' 
Mayne — Bogan — Spratt. 

SECTION       X. 

VIEW  of  the  INHABITANTS  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  REBEL' 
LION  and  the  RESTORATION. 

SECTION       XI. 

FIEW  of  MANNERS  and   USAGES   in   DEVONSHIRE,  during   the  PERIOD   of  ths 
REBELLION  and  the  RESTORATION. 

Morofenefs  and  Simulation — Superflitions — PariJh-FeafSi. 


The  PERIOD  of  the  REVOLUTION  and  the  UNITED  KINGDOMS, 

CHAPTER     VIII. 

SECTION     I, 

VIEW  of  the  CIVIL  and  MILITARY  HISTORY  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD 
of  the  REVOLUTION  and  the  UNITED  KINGDOMS. 

The  Prince  of  Orange  landing  at  Torbay — his  reception  in  the  city  of  Exeter— federal  curioui 
particulars  from  private  Papers,  refeSling  the  Re'volution —  Churchill,  Duke  oj  Marlbo- 
rough— Wejl-Teignmouth  burnt  by  the  French — Encampment  of  Roborough  donjons—Vifit  of 
their  prefent  Majefies  to  the  city  of  Exeter — their  progrefs  through  other  parts  ofDevonfnirto 

S  E  C  T  I  O  N      II. 

VIEW  of  the  CIVIL  and  MILITARY  CONSTITUTION  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  tfit 
PERIOD  (ftbe  REVOLUTION  and  ths  UNITED  KINGDOMS. 

«  SECTION 


(     xviii     ) 

SECTION       III. 

flElVofREUQlON  in  DEVONSHIRE,  durifn^  the  PERIOD  of  the  RESOLUTION  an4 

the  UNITED  KINGDOMS. 

I.  Rez'ie-v  of  the  Jormer  Periods — Comparifon  of  thofe  Periods  ivith  the  frcfent  times,  in 
regard  to  Religion. — II.  The  Dioccfe  of  Exeter,  &c. — III.  Bifoops  of  Exeter — Ihomas 
Lamplugh — Sir  f  on.  T'rela^vney — Offsprin'^ Blackall--  IJxvncdot  Blackburn — Stephen  Wejlon 
' — Nicholas  Clagget — George  La-xington — Ercderick  Kcppel — John  Rofs. — IV.  Archdeacon- 
ries— Deanrics  —  Parijbes. — V.  Hofpitnls — Charitable  Donations. — VI.  Religious  Charac- 
ters in  tke  efabitjbed  Church — Di/fenters  ofi/arioui  denominations. 

SECTION       IV. 

yiEir  of  ARCHITECTURE,  CIVIL,  MILITARY,  and  RELIGIOUS,  during  the  PERIOD 
of  tke  REVOLUTION  and  the  UNITED  KINGDOMS. 

I.  General  fate  of  ArchiteSlure  in  De'von,  at  the  prefent  day — Cottages— Farm-Houfes-' 
Villas — Tczvns-  R  ads  conneBing  thofe  To-^ns. — II.'  ArchiteSlural  Sur-uey  of  Exeter  in 
particular — its  Walls — Eaf,  South,  Wef,  and  North  parts  of  Exeter— full  defcription  of  the 
Caflle — of  the  Cathedral — Additional  Buildings  in  Exeter  ivitkin  the  prefent  Period— Prin- 
cipal Building's  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Axminfler—EoTiiton— all  the  other  Toivns  in  De^voTf- 
fhire  ilefcribed  in  th;  fame  manner.  '  ■  ' 

SECTION       V. 

HEW  of  AGRICULTURE,  PLANTATIONS,  and  GARDENS  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during 
the  PERIOD  of  the  REVOLUTION  and  the  UNITED  KINGDOMS. 

the  Agricultural  Society  in  the  Southams,  &c. — The  Pleafure-Grounds  of  Mamhead — Po-xc- 
dfrham,  &c.  &c.  &c.  &c. 

SECTION      VI. 

VIEW  of  MINING  in  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  REVOLUTION  and 

the  UNITED  KINGDOMS,. 

KetrofpeBi-je  Vie-iv  of  Mining  in  De'vonfhire — State  of  the  Mines  in  Devon  at  the  prefent 
'    moment, 

SECTION       VII. 

VIEW  of  theMANUEACT'UP.ES  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  REVO- 
LUTION and  ike  UNITED  KINGDOMS. 

State  of  ManufaBures  at  Exeter  and  at  the  principal  To-ivns  in  De-vonfiire — Impro'vemenfs 
in  the  Mechanical  Arts — Lornparifon  of  the  prefent  times  ^Jjith  former  Periods,  in  regard  to 
the  Mechatiical  Arts. 

SECTION       VIII. 

VIEW  of  tke  COMMERCE  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  REVOLUTION 
and  tke  UNITED  KINGDOMS. 

Maritime  To-ivns  in  Dcvon/hir^— Pilchard  and  other  Fifieries—PrcjeSied  Canals — Inland 
To^'tis— Markets— Fro'-jifons — Woollen-Trade— Coinage. 

SECTION      IX. 

VIEW  of  the  LANGUAGE,  LITERATURE,  and  LEARNED  MEN  of  DEVON  SHIRE  y 
during  the  PERIOD  of  the  REVOLUTION  and  the  UNITED  KINGDOMS,.     ' 

Refinement  oj  the  Englijh  Language—the  laft  faint  Vefiges  of  the  Cornubritijh  traced  to  the 
further  extremities  oj  Cornvjall^LiJi  of  pro<vmcial  words •^-Schooh'^the  mojt  eminent 

Perfons 


(     xix     ) 

Perfons  educated  inDe'vonJhire — Ladies  Boarding-Schools — fri'vale  Seminaries — Literature 
•—General  Obferijations  on  it — Patrons  of  Literature  in  Devonjhire — their  Chambers— 
Divinity — Di'vines  remarkable  as  Preachers — as  Authors— King,  Titidal,  Hallet,  Burton^ 
$Audge,  Kennicott,  Badcock,  Rofs,  To'-Mgood,  &c. — IForks  of  Having  Authors  enumerated — 
Law — General  Obfer--vations  on  it — Laivyers — Fortefcue,  AJhburton,  Camden,  &c.  &c. — 
Works  of  living  Authors — Medicine — Medical  ]Vr iters — Mufgra-je,  Huxham,  Glafs,  &c. 
&c. — Works  of  li'ving  Authors— YiA^ory — Topography — Topogro.hical  Writers — Prince, 
Izacke,  Cleazieland,  Milles,  Chappie,  &c. — Mifcellaneous  Writers — Kennel,  (sfc— Poetry 
— Poets — Lady  Chudleigh,  Gay,  Rozue,  &c. — IForks  of  living  Authors— Crkiciim — Millef 
— Mullc — Painting — Sir  Jo/hua  Reynolds,  &c.  &c. 

SECTION       X. 

riEW  of  the  INHABITANTS  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the  REFOLU- 
TION  and  the  UNITED  KINGDOMS. 

Populoufnefs  of  De'vonfhire — of  Exeter — of  the  principal  Tovjns  in  Devon — Difcriminating 
features  of  the  people  of  Devonfhire — Family -refemblances  —  Infances  of  extraordinary 
Parturition — of  Longevity — Epidemical  Difeafes — Chronic — Fires — Mifcellaneous  occur- 
rences. 

s  E  c  T  I  o  N     xr. 

VIEW  of  the  MANNERS  and  USAGES  of  DEVONSHIRE,  during  the  PERIOD  of  the 
REVOLUTION  and  the  UNITED  KINGDOMS. 

CharaSler  of  the  differ eiit  ranks  of  people  in  Devonjhire — of  the  Inhabitants  of  Exeter — of 
the  Inhabitants  of  Plymouth — of  the  Inhabitants  of  fever  al  other  Towns  in  this  County- 
Relics  of  Superjiition  in  Devonjhire — different  articles  oj^  Luxury — Feajls — Diverfons. 


APPENDIX, 
Containing  a  great  Variety  of  curious  Papers. 

POSTSCRIPT. 


HISTORICAL      VIEWS 


O  F 


DEVONSHIRE. 


CHAPTER     THE     FIRST. 


THE      BRITISH      PERIOD: 

From  the  First  Settlements  in  Danmonium,  to  the  Arrival  of  Julius  C^sar, 

riFTY-FIV£.    YEARS      BEFORE      CHRIST. 


Vol.  I. 


HISTORICAL   VIEWS  of  DEVONSHIRE, 


CHAPTER       L 
SECTION      I. 

rtEJVofthe  INHABITANTS  of  DANMONIUM,  during  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 
I.  Emi^rators  from  the  Eafl,  fettling  in  De'von — Said  by  the  Saxon  Chronicle  to  be  Armenianf 
— Pajj'age  from  the  Saxon  Chronicle — Firf  Settlements  in  the  Southa?!is — Oppofite  opinioni 
of  Carte,  Borlafe,  and  Jf'^hi laker — ExtrciBfrr.-m  Cafar — Period  of  the  Eaftern  Emigratiom 
—II.  A  fecond  Colony— Phenicians.— III.  A  third  Colotiy— Greeks. — IV.  Other  fettlers 
from  the  continent  of  Europe — the  Belga: — the  Cimbri — the  Carnahii. 

THE  original  lettlements  of  countries,  and  particularly  of  tbofe  whicli  lie  at  the  moft 
remote  diftances  from  the  fpot  whence  all  the  generations  of  mankind  ilTued,  are 
commonly  enveloped  in  a  cl-ud  that  the  keeneft  eye  cannot  penetrate.  But  this  obfcu- 
r\^y  naturally  awakens  curiolity ;  and  con'ecture  will,  of  courfe,  ftep  in  to  relieve  it^ 
Here  opens  a  fpacious  field  for  the  wanderings  of  the  imagination,  efpeciaHy  if  it  defcry 
fbnie  glimmering  light  of  hiilory  to  direft  its  rdeaixhes.  By  whom  this  illand  was  firft 
peopled,  and  at  what  period,  and  where  and  in  what  manner  the  fublequent  colonifts 
of  Britain  formed  their  fettlements,  till  the  invafion  of  Julius  Caefar,  are  points,  whichj 
though  they  have  long  exercifed  the  ingenuity  of  hiltorians,  are,  after  every  difcufllon^ 
ftUl  ambiguous.  That  a  writer,  therefore,  who  feems  to  be  confined  by  his  fubjeft 
within  the  limits  of  a  particular  province,  fhould  enter  into  the  general  queftion  of  ths 
original  peopling  of  the  ifland,  dark  and  involved  as  it  confefi'edly  is,  might  be  attri- 
buted, at  firft  fight,  to  a  daring  fpirit  fond  of  encountering  difficulties,  which  to  avoid, 
would  incur  no  cenfure,  but  which  to  meet,  would  be  impertinent  and  hazardous. 
Yet  it  will  appear,  in  the  courfe  of  the  prefent  chapter,  that  not  to  notice  thoi'e  early 
antiquities  in  a  Hiftory  of  Devonfliire,  would  be  an  unpardonable  omiifion  ;  fince  they  are 
chiefly  applicable  to  this  very  fpot.  And  not  only  in  Devonfliire,  but  in  the  South  of 
Devonfhire,  we  may  difcover,  perhaps,  fome  traces  of  the  original  colonization  of  the 
ifland.  1  hat  the  Aborigines  of  Britain  came  from  the  neighbouring  continent  of  Gaul,, 
is  the  commonly-received  opinion  :  But  it  has  likewife  been  ma'ntained,  on  no  improba- 
ble grounds,  that  our  primitive  Colonifts  emigrated  from  the  Eaft  before  the  exiftence  of 
the  European  or  Continental  fettlers. 

And  this  is  the  Hypothefis,  which,  from  its  connexion  with  Devonfhire,  feems  lO  claim,- 
at  leaft,  a  curfory  attention. 

That  the  oriy-inal  inhabitants  of  Danmonium  were  of  eaflern  origin,  and,  in  particular, 
were  Armenians,  is  a  pofition  which  may,  doubtlefs,  be  fupported  by  fome  fhc;w  of 
authority.  But,  whilft  I  afiert,  that  our  fall:  Colonifts  were  of  eaftern  origin,  I  do  not 
intend  to  deny  what  I  conceive  cannot  be  denied,  that  all  Europe  was  peopled  by  emi- 
grations from  the  eaft  :  I  m^an  only  to  draw  a  line  of  diftinftion  between  the  Aborigines 
of  this  country,  who  came  from  the  eaft  by  fea,  and  fettled  at  once  in  Britain,  and  thofe 
tribes  who  came  from  the  eaft  by  land,  and  gradually  fpread  over  the  continent. 

That  this  diftinftion  is  not  fanciful,  may  pofTibly  appear,  hereafter,  from  the  religion 
of  our  firft  colonifts,  as  well  as  their  language,  their  manners,  and  ufagifss,  and  feveral 
other  particulars,  in  which  they  bore  not  the  leaft  refemblance  to  the  Celtic  race  that 
peopled  Europe  :  With  the  Celtic  race,  indeed,  they  had  no  communication  j  and  to 
the  Celtic  race  they  were  not  kncvn. 

In  the  mean  time,  let  us  confider  the  teftimony  of  one  of  our  chronicles,  which  fpeaks 
to  the  point  of  the  Armenian  emigration.  The  Saxon  Chronicle  pofitively  afferts,  that 
*'  the  original  inhabitants  of  Britain  came  from  Armenia,  and  that  they  feated  themfelveS 
in  the  fouth-weft  part  of  the  ifland  :"  {a)    The  fame  Chronicle  next  records  "the  arrival 

of 

(«)  "  In  hae  infula — Britannia — funt  qu'inque  natlones ;  Anglica,  Britannka  feu  Wallka.,  Scotica,  Pic-^ 
t'tca  et  Latina.  Pr'mi  hujus  term  incoUe  fuere  Britatwi,- qui  ex  Armenia  profEit,  in  Auflrali  parte 
Britannia  primum  fedem  pojuerur.t.  Pcjica  coitigit,  PiEios  ex  Aujirali  parte  Scythia,  Icngis  na-vibus,  baud 
ita  mui'tis,  ad'veSlos,  ad  Hiberma  fcptentrionaks  partes  primum  appuli£e,  ac  a  Scotis  petife,  ut  ibi  habitare 
Jibi  Hceret.  Ceterum  iis -veniam  dare  tiolebant ;  refpondent  autem  Scoti  :  PcJJumus  ribi/o  fecius,  confilio 'voi 
juvan,  AHam  novimus  infulam  kinc  ad  irietitem,  ubi  (Ji  vijum  fuerit)  bahilare  poj/itis)  et  Ji  quifpiant 

A  a  «/•«»* 


4  HISTORICAL-  yiEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

of  the  South-Scythiaiis,  by  fea,  in  long  (hips,  whom  the  Scot!  in  Ireland  declined  receiv- 
ing, out  advikd  their  Jettling  in  Scotland — which  they  did  :  And  afterwards  the  Scoti  of 
Irehnd  intermarried,  and  were  varioufly  conneftcd  with  this  peoj.ile." 

The  S;i:<on  Chronicle  is  faid  to  have  been  written  by  a  monk,  at  Lincoln  :  And  fimi- 
lar  chronicles  were  kept  by  the  moll  learne<l  monks  in  leveral  monafteries  throughout  the 
kingdon*.  7'he  monk  of  Lincoln  I'eems  to  have  been  well  informed:  And  there  is  no 
more  reaibn  to  dii'pute  the  authority  of  the  pafTage  before  us,  than  that  of  any  other  part 
of  the  book.  For  it  is  not  a  con;e61:ure  :  It  is  not  hazarded  as  an  opinion  :  It  is  a  pofitive 
alVertion  and  relation  of  an  event,  as  a  thing  generally  known  and  underftood  to  be  true. 
The  only  doubt  that  can  be  thrown  upon  this  paflage,  muft  ariie  from  a  note  in  Bilhop 
Gibfons  edition  of  the  Chronicle,  in  which  a  dill'erent  reading  is  fuggefted,  and  the  word 
Arraorica  fublUtuted  for  Armenia  :  And  Bede  is  quoted  as  authorizing  the  conje6T:ure.(^) 

I  have 

armU  rtfiter'f,  »os  nieb'is  ftih'ven'tffKUS,  <juo  earn  expugnare  'valeath,  Tunt  folvehant  Piff'i,  et  have  terrain 
a  parte  boreall  ingrejji  fuiit  ;  Aufi^al'ia  cnlm  Britonti  occupaverant,  uti  antea  dixir/ius.  Turn  PlEfi  fihi 
uxores  a  Scctis  Impetrakant,  ea  conditioiie,  ut  fuam  regalem  projap'iam  Jcmper  a  parte  fcminea  e/igeretit  j 
fucm  mo'-em  lor.ge  pojlea  feri/jrtitit.  Contlglt  deitide,  a>  r,oru>?2  decurjii.,  Scotorum  aliquos  ex  Ilibernia  pre- 
feiios  in  Britantiiam,  bujui  terree  partem  aliquem  expugvaj]\:.  Dux  aute:n  eorum  Rcoda  'vocabatur—d  quo 
ipjl  dlBi  fur,t  Dtfir-ecd:.^'     Saxon  Cliron.  (Cibfon's  lidit.  Oxford,  1692.)  p.  i,  2. 

{a)  "  It  appears  to  me  (fays  a  correfpondent)  that  Armenia  has  here  been  fubftit'ited  for 
Armorica.  Rif.iop  Gifafon  feems  10  have  been  well  apprized  of  this  blunder  j  for  he  refers  the 
reader  to  Ven.  Bede  Hift.  Eccief.  1.  1.  c.  i.  where  I  find  thefe  words,  which  agree  botii  in  Whcloc's 
and  Smith's  edition.  '  In  frimh  autem  hac  injula  Brittones  fium  a  i/uihis  vomen  accepit,  incolas  habufff 
jui  de  traSiu  Armorlcano,  utfertur,  Brittaniam  ad-veRi,  auftrdles  Jihi  partes  HHus  ■vrndicarurt.''  King 
Alfred's  tranfl.ition  likewife  has  Armorica.  1  he  bi-ginning  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle  feenis  to  be 
almoil  the  fame  with  the  paflage  from  ■•  hich  the  foregoing  Is  extracted,  though  the  former  is 
rather  more  concife.  It  is  yet  an  unfettled  point,  whether  the  firfb  part  of  the  Chronicle  was  writ- 
ten (i)  before  Bede's  time  or  not:  Bilhop  Gibfon  and  Bilhop  Nicolfon  hold  contrary  opinions; 
-but,  if  it  were  neceir-iry,  1  think  I  could  bring  forward  fome  fubdarjial  ari;uments  to  prove  that 
die  former  p.irt  of  the  Chronicle  is  adlual'y  taken  from  Bede.  Tacitus  and  Cafar  corfirm  what 
Bede  relates,  by  the  inference  which  they  draw  from  the  fimilitude  o'f  language  and  manritrs  in  the 
refpeftive  inhabitants  of  Armorica  and  Britam.  In  the  mean  time,  BifhopGibfon  himfelf  in  his  note 
on  this  palTage  (which  may  be  found  in  Nom'.num  Locorum  Explicatkne,  p.  12.  fubjoined  to  the  Chro- 
nicle) obftrves  :  '■ArmrAa  ( lege  A'tnorica )  Gallia  pars  ab  accident e,  oree  maritima  proxiwa,  et  a  Jlttt 
romen  fortitj  :  Armo'ica  cnim  eft  qtiaji  ad  mare.  Cum  Angloruin  -virihus  opprcjp.  erant  Btitanni,  eorum 
pars  hue  Je  falutis  cavfa  cor.tulit,  ut.de  Britanni  A/moricani.  Hodie  BretagneJ'''  To  my  doubts  whe- 
ther the  pairage  in  Bede  fimilar  to  that  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  was  an  i  terpolation  or  not,  the 
ifame  ingenious  corref pendent  replies  :  "  The  queftion  you  now  propofe,  is  not,  whether  Armenia 
or  Armorica  ?  but,  wiiether  the  fentences  in  Bede,  referred  to  as  parallel  with  the  paffage  in  the 
Saxon  Chronicle  that  notices  Armenia,  are  really  Bede's  ? — in  other  words— :s  the  paragraph  an  in- 
terpolation ?  I  do  not  fcruple  to  declare  that  it  is  not :  and,  that  you  may  reft  fatibfied  of  the  truth 
of  this  affurance,  I  (hall  rtate  fuch  pi\ofs  as  rnufl,  I  think,  produce  conviflion.  Bede's  ecclefiaf\ical 
li.;lory  with  King  Alfred's  Anglo-faxon  ve;fion  was  firll  printed,  in  this  country,  at  Cambridge,  in 
1644,  by  Abraham  Whelce,  who  had  tlie  ufe  of  feveril  iViSS.  A  fplendid  edition  was  afterwards 
printed  at  Cambridge,  in  1644,  by  Dr.  Smith,  wi  o  had  the  ufe  of  ot'^er  MSS.  Of  thefe  xViSS.  the 
mofl  ancient  is  ti>at  which  is  depofited  in  tiie  Roy.  1  Library  at  Camlnidge,  and  was  written  in  737, 
only  two  years  after  Bede's  death.  Neither  Smith  nor  ■V\'helcc  have  faid  that  the  paffage  is  not  in  this 
MS.  Cn  the  contrary,  all  the  MSS.  feem  to  agree  in  all  points,  as  to  this  paffage,  for  there  is  not  the 
mo(t  minute  variation  noticed  in  the  readings.  Eede  died  in  755  :  King  All  red  died  in  901.  Alfred's 
Saxon  tranflation  clcfely  fellows  Bede's  Latin.  Is  it  likely  thd  at  the  fhort  diftance  of  a  century  and 
half,  the  king,  whofe  extenfive  learning  and  found  judgment  are  fo  highly  extolled,  rtiould  have 
made  ufe  of  a  corrupted  or  interpolated  manufcript,  and  ftiould  even  have  adopted  and  fanftioned  an 
errour,  and  that  in  a  inoft  material  point  ?  Our  paffage  forms  the  fourth  paragraph  of  the  firft  chapter 
of  tb-  firft  book.  The  title  of  the  chapter  is,  '  Defitu  Brittania  -vel  Hiberr.ia,  &  prifcis  earum  incolis.* 
The  firft  paragraph  treats  of  the  fitnation  of  the  ifland  ;  the  fecond,  of  its  fertility  and  natural  pro- 
duclions  ;  the  third,  of  the  climate  ;  the  fourth,  of  the  languages  and  inhabitants ;  the  fifth,  of  the 
Pi£ls  and  of  Ireland  ;  and  ihe  fixth  and  laft,  of  the  Scots.  Now  the  fourth  paragraph  could  not,  at 
any  rate,  be  a  mere  interpolation  ;  for  fuppofing,  for  the  fake  of  argument,  that  our  paffage  was  not 
part  of  the  crij^inal  work,  this  chapter  would  then  have  been  defeftive,  and  not  ccrrefpondent  with 
its  general  titie  ;  for  nothing  was  then  left  concerning  the  original  inhabitants,  of  whom  it  profeffed 
to  treat:  And  that  the  original  paragraph  fhould  have  been  expunged,  and  a  diffmilar  one  foifled 
in,  is  altogether  incredible.  Let  us  now  corfider  the  fourth  paragraph.  The  words  are  thefe,  ♦  Hac 
in  praefenti,  juxta  numerum  librorum  quibus  lex  di-vino  jcripta  eji.^  quinque  gentium  Unguis^  unam  earn- 

demque 

U)  That  it  was  written  before  Bede't  time,  might  be  cafily  proved. 


The     BRITISH     period.  5 

f  have  to  add,  that  the  context  of  the  paffage  does  not  feem  to  warrant  the  word  Armorica, 
TJie  Saxon  Chronicle,  fpeaking  of  the  original  inhabitants,  plainly  intimates,  that  '*  they 
who  iettled  firft  in  the  South  or  South-vveltern  parts,  came  a  long  voyage  by  fea  :"  And 
next,  fays  the  Chronicle,  '-'  came  alio  by  fea,  the  Southern  Scythians.''  About  the 
Southern  Scythiaris  there  feems  to  be  no  difpute.  In  the  mean  time,  it  is  abfurd  to 
tlefcribe  a  colony  from  the  oppofite  coaft  of  Gaul,  as  coming  a  long  iea-voyage.  If,  in- 
deed, the  original  inhabitants  fettled  in  the  weftern  parts  of  the  ifland,  before  the  South- 
ern Scythians  came,  they  formed  their  colony  in  Britain,  when  the  coafts  of  Gaul  were 
uninhabited  J  when  on  the  coalts  of  Gaul,  there  were  no  fettlers  of  any  delcription,,  and 
of  courfe  noArmoricans  :  The  Armoricans,  indeed,  are  comparativel}^  of  a  modern  date. 

Our  firll  fettlers  not  coming  over-land  by  way  of  Europe,  the  concluiion  is,  that  they 
came  by  iea  :  Nor  does  there  feem  to  be  any  difliculty  in  this  fuppofition,  if  we  allow 
that  the  Phcnician  merchants  came  hither,  afterwards,  by  the  fame  channel.  From  the 
paflage  I  have  quoted,  it  further  appears,  that  a  colony  of  South-Scythians  touched  at 
Ireland,  and  paffed  thence  to  North  Britain.  This  is  abundantly  conhrmed  in  the  Irifli 
records,  which  never  appeared  f^  advantageoufly  as  in  Vallancey's  ingenious  Vindication 
of  the  Ardquity  of  the  Irilh.  If  the  PicTti,  then,  came  frsm  South  ^cythia,  why  not  the 
Danmonii  from  Armenia  ?  Whilll  the  one  was  able  to  come  from  the  eaft,  was  there  any 
charm  to  prevent  the  other  ? 

With  refpeft  to  the  part  of  the  illand  where  our  Eaftern  emigrators  fettled,  I  have 
already  oblerved  that  it  was,  probably  in  the  South  of  Devon.  This  is  intimated,  as 
we  have  feen,  by  the  Sazon  Chronicle.  And,  that  the  southams  were  inhabited  in  very 
early  times,  may  be  fiirly  inferred,  I  think,  from  the  ftory  of  Brutus  j  though,  with 
regard  to  f '.6fs,  we  reject  it  as  legendary. 

According  to  Geoffry  of  Monmouth,  Brutus,  fon  of  Silvius,  having  vanquifhed  the 
giants  of  this  ifland,  called  it  Britain,  after  his  own  name,  in  1108  before  Chrift. 

In  the  mean  time,  thofe  well  known  lines  from  the  Architrenius  of  Havillan — 
Lide  data  curfti,  Brutus  ccmltatus  Achate, 
CaUoru7n  f[,oliu  cumulatus,  nwvibus  aquor,  &c.  &c. 
tend  to  {hew  that  this  fettlement  was  made  in  the  i'c«//j-well. 

In  the  fame  Poem  is  defcribed  the  confiift  between  Corinaeus  and  the  Giant :  And  the 
rock  which  the  Poet  mentions,  is  reported  to  be  the  Haw,  a  hill  between  the  town  of 
Plymouth  and  the  fea.  Thus  fings  Havillan  : 

Hos,  avidttm  belli  robur,  Corinatis  Averno 
Pracipites  rjiifit,  cubitis  ter  quatuor  altu?n 
Gogmagog  Herculea  fufpendit  in  aere  luSlu,  fefr.  &c. 

Nor  is  popular  tradition  filent  on  the  l'ubje£t.  Our  iirft  heroes  ;.nd  our  firft  towns  are 
placed  in  the  Southams  by  the  voice  of  the  people,  that  echoes,  at  this  moment,  to  tiic 
Saxon  Chronicle  and  the  Britifli  Annals. 

The  inhabitants  of  Totnes  defcribe  Brutus  as  landing  at  their  town,  and  point  out  the 
very  ftone  on  which  he  firil  fet  foot,  when  defcending  from  his  veiiel :  And,  though  the 
fea  be  now  retired  from  Totnes,  yet  the  records  of  former  ages  inliruft  us,  that  it  aftu- 
ally  flowed  up  to  the  very  waiJs  of  the  town.  Thefe  are  remarkable  coincidencies  :  I  had 
almoft  laid,  that  they  are  fuch  as  mull  carry  conviftion  of  the  fad  I  have  been  aflerting, 
to  every  unprejudiced  mind. 

"We  have  here  the  exprefs  declaration  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle  ;  the  tale  of  the  Britifh 
Annalift  j  and  the  fong  of  the  pjet  Havillan  ;  the  traditional  notions  of  the  people  of  1  otnes, 
tranfmitted  from  the  remotell  ages  to  the  prefent  race  5  and  a  faft  in  natural  hiitory  j 
diftinft  in  themfelves — independent  on  each  other — yet  all  meeting  in  the  fame  point. 

demque  fumma  verUath  et  vera  fublimitath  Jc'tetittam  fcrutatur  et  cctiftetur,  Anzjorum  •videlicet,  Brltto- 
HUM,  Scottorum,  P'lflcrum  et  Latinorum,  qua  meditatione  fcrifturarum  careris  cmndus  eft  faBa  communii. 
In  fr'imis  autem  hac  ir.fula  Brlttones  Jolum  a  quibus  nomen  acceph,  incolas  habuit,  qui  Je  traBu  Armori- 
cano,  ut  jertur,  Britfaniam  adveHi,  Auftrahs  fihi  partem  illius  'vindicarunt.'  Then  proceeds  the  fifth  : 
«  Et  citm  plurtmam  injula  partem,  incipientes  ab  Auftro,  p'  fTedifftnt,  cot  tigit  gent  mPicforum,  &c.  Hiber- 
tiiam,  per-vevi£e,  &c.'  Had  the  fentence  inprimis,  &c.  been  wanting,  the  ftnfe  were  incomplete ;  and  we 
muft  have  confidered  tlie  fubfequent  paragraph  as  another  interpo],<tion.  Had  the  latter  been  allowed 
to  ftand,  where  (hould  we  have  found  the  nominative  cafe  to  poffedificnt  ?  The  ubri  quibus  hxdi'vina 
fcripia  eft  ?  or  the  lingua  quinque gentium?  Upon  the  whole,  v  e  mufl;  come  to  thefe  determinations. 

1.  That  there  is  no  interpolation  confidered  merely  as  fuch,  namely,  the  introduffion  of  extrinfic  matter. 

2.  That  there  is  not  a  (hadow  of  reafon  for  fuppofing  that  the  pafTage  is  corrupted^  or  that  it  does  not 
ftand,  in  the  printed  books,  precifely  as  it  came  originally  from  Bedc's  pen." 

Though 


6  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    oe    DEVONSHIRE. 

Though  the  Saxon  Chronicle, -fingly  taken,  might  not  be  admitted  as  decifive,  yef, 
as  ftrengthened  by  thei'e  collateral  proofs,  I  cannot  diipute  its  authority.  Though  the 
tnJition  of  Totnes  might,  in  itielf,  be  allowed  no  great  weight,  yet,  as  lupported  by  the 
Saxon  Chronicle,  we  confuier  it  with  rolpecl.  The  monk  oi  Lincoln  was  a  Ibanger  to 
Tomes  :  He  was  ignorant  of  her  traditions,  and  their  enhvening  relic.  The  inhabitants 
of  Fotnes  were  equally  unacquainted  with  the  Saxon  Chronicle  :  They  were  unconl'cious 
of  its  exillence  -.  Nor  hath  its  fame,  perhaps,  yet  reached  the  traditionifts  of  this  ancient 
town.  Not  lels  remote,  I  conceive,  was  the  connexion  between  Geoffry  of  Monmouth, 
and  the  Totoncfians.  Surely,  no  coUufion  between  the  parties  can  be  fufpefted.  I  will 
not  infilt  any  further  on  this  ihiking  concurrence ;  though  I  cannot  but  remind  the 
reader  of  the  faft  in  natural  hiftory,  which  proves  the  tradition  to  be  partly  true.  The 
tradition,  therefore,  claims  fome  credit:  And,  thus  acquiring  force,  it  communicates  it^ 
influence  to  the  ^axon  Chronicle  and  to  the  Britilh  Annals  :  And  they  all,  mutually, 
corroborate  each  other. 

Let  us  proceed  to  examine  a  few  opinions,  that  apparently  militate  againft  this  hypo- 
tliefis.  That  Britain  was  peopled  by  the  Brigantes,  who  were  called  aUo  Brigtones  and 
Bri-anni,  is  the  pofitive  aflertion  of  Carte;  though  he  owns  that  he  differs  from  raoft 
other  writers  on  the  fubjed .  But  he  alledges,  th.at  "  moll  authors  take  things  uporj 
truH  ;  whiht  he  fees  and  examines  every  thing  with  his  own  eyes,''  How  far  he  really 
exa.nined  every  thing  with  his  own  eyes,  may  admit  of  fome  doubt  ;  fmce  he  exprefsly 
quotes  Cxfar  for  his  authority,  in  faying  that  the  Aborigines  of  Britain  \va-e  the  Bri- 
gantes. 1  mention  this  to  (hew,  at  the  fame  inilant,  both  the  ignorance  and  the  boldnefs 
of  Carte.  Where  doth  Cai^far  inform  us  that  the  Aborigi)ies  were  the  Brigantes  ?  I  defy 
all  the  admirers  of  Carte  to  point  out  fuch  an  intimation  in  any  of  Cccfar's  writings  : 
Vairdy  would  they  fearch  for  it  even  with  Mr.  Carte's  "  own  eyes."  Casllu-  would  have 
rejoiced  at  difcovering  who  the  Aborigines  were,  or  whence  they  came. 

The  name  of  Brigantes  was  conferred  upori  the  tribes  who  paded  from  the  Continent 
into  Britain,  and  was  the  lignature  of  their  feparation  from  their  brethren  in  Gaul,  {a) 

The  Kelgic  Trivonantes  are  particularly  mentioned  as  Brigantes,  by  Galgacus,  a  na- 
tive of  Britain  :   "  Brigantes  jam  ina  duce,  exurere  coloniatn,  expugnare  cafira.''^  {b') 

Dr.  Borlafe,  a  much  more  refpeftable  author  than  Carte,  does  not  venture  to  oppofe  th« 
vulo-ar  notion  that  this  illand  was  originally  peopled  from  Gaul.  But  (not  to  notice  in  this 
place  his  ideas  relating  to  the  religions  and  manners  of  the  Britons  and  the  oriental  nations) 
he  evidently  fees  fome  olredions,  to  prevent  his  implicit  affent  to  the  common  opinion. 

Amon-^  other  topics,  the  fentiments  which  the  Britons  themfelves  entertained  of  their 
orio-in,  is  the  fubeft  of  his  confideration.  The  Aborigines  thought  (fays  Borlafe)  that 
they  were  fprung  from  Dis,  or  from  the  earth  ;  whilft  tlie  colonifts  of  the  coafts  acknow- 
ledged, with  more  judgment,  that  they  were  fprung  from  the  Gauls.  And  Dis  was 
ima-'-ined  to  be  the  fame  perfon  as  the  Egyptian  Mercury  or  (c)  Thoth,  who  was  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  migration  from  Babel. 

This  is  a  very  fingular  and  llriking  circumftance.  And  this  tradition  of  the  Britifii  ori- 
<nn  was  {d)  aft ually  preferved  by  the  Druids  :  And,  we  may  well  prefume,  it  was  founded 
on  truth.  There  was  fomething  of  myfterioufnefs  in  the  tradition  :  And  the  communi- 
cation of  it  to  the  people  was,  perhaps,  very  imperfedl.  It  was  probably  repofited  among 
^.o\e.  fecret  things  of  the  Druids,  which  Csefar  mentions  with  reverence. 

Bonduica,  the  queen  of  the  Britons,  affirmed,  with  fome  degree  of  triumph,  that  the 
wifeft  of  the  Romans  were  unacquainted  with  the  true  name  of  the  Indigense.  {e)  This 
haS;  doubtlefs,  an  air  of  myftery.  For  fimply  to  know  the  name  of  a  colony,  or  the  firft 
founder  of  it,  would  be  as  much  within  the  fcope  of  the  vulgar,  as  the  more  informed 
mind.  To  be  acquainted  with  the  name  of  the  Indigence,  would  imply  no  great  degree 
of  wifdom.  It  muft  have  been  fome  recondite  knowledge,  therefore,  of  which  Bonduica 
fays,  the  wifeft  of  the  Romans  were  ignorant. 

This  much,  at  prefent,  for  Carte  and  Borlafe.  To  introduce  the  Hiflorian  of  Msn- 
chefter,  in  this  place,  with  a  view  of  controverting  his  opinions,  might  be  deemed  an 
infult  both  to  his  genius  and  his  learning.  That  I  intend,  howe^'er,  the  flighteft  dif- 
refpeiSl  to  Mr.  Whitaker,  can  never  be  conceived  ;  whilft  I  have  uniformly  profefFed  my 

(a)  See  Whitaker's  Genuhie  Hiftory,  p.  72,  73,  and  his  Hiftory  of  Mnnchefter,  p.  9,  10. 

(A)  Agric.  Vit.  c.  31.  (0  See  Bochart,  p.  463. 

{f)  Jib  D'tte  patre  pro^natos  pradicant ;   jdque  ab  Dru'id'tbus  prodltum  dkunt.     Caefar,  L.  6. 

{e)  Si  tejl'tnonh  D'musCaJfi'i  Jidei  habenda  eft^  Bntann'.rum  Rcgina  Bonduica  afirmet^  Romanorumf''pjin- 

tijjimot  verum  nomen  indigenarum  ignorajfe.    Not.  in  Ricard.  p.  153.  bigU 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  7 

high  veneration  of  his  antiquarian  abilities,  in  a  ftrain  which  could  only  be  prompted  by 
ideas  of  uncommon  merit.     The  authority  of  Mr.  Whitaker,  muft,  doubtlefs,  be  allowed 
great  weight.     That  Mr.  Whitaker  has  derived  the  Britons  from  the  Gauls,  and  placed 
the   firft   inhabitation  of  this  ifland,    about  one  thouland  years  before  Chrift,   appears 
from  his  Manchefter  and  from  his  (a)  Genuiiie  Hillory  of  the  Britons.    And,  in  a  corre- 
fbondence  with  which  he  has  lately  favoured  me  on  this  fubieft,  he  thus  exprefles   his 
fentiments.     "  When  the   Phenicians,  fays  he,    firft  traded   here,  the  Belgae  were  the 
inhabitants,  who  came  hither  from  Gaul,   about  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  before 
Chrift,  and  the  Aborigines,  who  eame  hitiier  from  the  fame  country  about  one  thoufand 
years  before  Chrift.    As  to  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  it  is  wholly  incompetent  to  decide  upon 
the  point.    The  writer  of  it  knows  nothing  of  thole  early  times  but  what  was  tranfmitted 
to  him  from  the  Romans  and  Greeks.     To  thefe,  therefore,  we  muft  appeal.     Caefar  is 
our  earlieft  author,  and  in  himfelf,  alfo,  our  beft.   "  Britannia  pars  interior  ab  iis  incolitur, 
quos  natos  in  infula  ipja  tneinoria  proditiim  dicitnt  :   Maritima  pars  ab  iis,  qui  prada  ac  belli 
inferendi  caufa,  ex  Belgis  traitfierant ;  et,  bello  illato,  ibi  reinanferunt,  at  que  agros  colere 
aeperunt.'''     Thefe  lines  fonn  the  grand  diflinftion  of  our  Ifland  Fathers.     When  the 
Aborigines  and  the  Belgje  came,  fuccefTively,  Caefar  does  not  infonn  us.     He  only  fays, 
in  another  place,  "  Plerofque  Belgas,  of  Gaul,  ej/e  ortos  a  Germanis,  Rhe?iumque  antiquitus 
tranfduBos,  propter  loci  fertilitatem  ibi  confediJJ'e,  Gallofque  qui  ea  loca  incolerent,  expulijfe.''' 
This  incident  is  too  evidently  coimeiifed  with  that  above,  not  to  be  allowed  to  be  nearly 
contemporary  with  it.     The  Belgse  of  Germany  invaded  Gaul,  feized  all  the  north-eaft 
to  the  Meme  and  the  Seine,  and  then  progi'efiively  pafl'ed  into  Britain.     As  pofterior 
colonifts,  they  inhabited  the  line  of  the  coaft,  having  diflodged  the  prior  colony  from  itj 
and  confined  them  to  the  interior  of  the  ifland.     And  %L'hen  either  of  thefe  colonies  came 
hither,  is  pointed  out  veiy  happily,  and  with  a  full  conformity  to  collateral  hiftory,  by 
that  little  commentary  drawn  up  by  Richard  of  Cirencefter,  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
which  had  been  ftrangely  fmuggled  out  of  Britain  into  Denmark,  and  which  returned 
back  to  its  native  country-  about  thirty  years  ago.     "  Anno  mundi  M.  M.  M.     Circa  hac 
tempora  cultam  et  habitatam  primut^  Britamiiam  arbitrantur  nonnulli ;'"  where  we  obferve 
his  aftual  reference  to  fome  ancient  author  or  authors,  and  their  dubioufnefs  concerning 
the  precife  year  of  fo  remote  an  event.     But  for  the  fecond  colony  as  coming  in  a  period 
much  nearer  to  the  line  of  Roman  hiftor}',  he  fpeaks  from  his  authors  thus  pofitively : 
A.  M.  M.  M.  M.  D.  c.  L.     Has  terras  intrarunt Belga.^'     On  the  whole,  it  appears,  that 
Mr.  Whitaker  is  difpofed,  not  only  to  derive  the  original  Britons  from  Gaul,  but  to  fix 
the  firft  colonization  of  the  ifland   about  one  thoufand  years  before  Chriil  j  and  that,  in 
determinnig  this  point,  he  chiefly  repofes  on  the  authority  of  Richard  of  Cirencefter.  But, 
with  all  deference  to  Mr.  Whitaker's  iudgment,  I  cannot  but  think,  that  the  very  paflage 
which  he  cites  from  Richard,  to  corroborate  his  argument,  has,  in  itfelf,  a  ftrong  ten- 
dency to  overturn  it.    Let  us  review  his  extraft,  with  what  irmnediately  follows  it,  in  the 
original :   The  whole  paflTage  will  wear  a  very  different  afpeft  and  lead  to  a  very  different 
conclufion.     "  (i)  A.  M.   m.  m.  m.  circa  hac  tempora  cultam  &  habitatojn  primum  Brita- 
niam  arbitrantur  nonnulU."'     So  far  Mr.  Whitaker — ^but  Richard  proceeds — "  cum  illam 
falutarent  Graci  Pheenicefque  mercatores.'  The  obvious  meaning  of  this  paflage,  doubtlefs, 
is,  that  about  the  year  of  the  world  three  thoufand,  (and  about  one  thoufand  years  before 
Chrift,)  this  ifland  was,  in  general,  cultivated  and  peopled  in  every  part  of  it — mlbmuch 
that  the  Phenician  and  Greek  merchants  were  beginning  to  trade  with  the  natives."  Mr. 
Whitaker  muft  certainly  allow,  that  if  this  paflage  be  cited  to  fix  the  date  of  the  peopling 
of  the  ifland,  it  may  be  brought,  at  the  fame  time,  to  fix  the  date  of  the  Phenician  and 
Grecian  commerce  with  the  iflanders.     But,  if  we  admit  its  authority  with  this  double 
view,  we  muft  underftand  that  the  peopling  of  Britain  and  the  Phenician  trade  com- 
menced at  the  fame  inftant.     This,  however,  is  a  manifeft  abfurdity.    Who  can  imagine 
that  a  race  of  adventurers,  juft  landed  on  a  defart  ifland,  could  find  themfelves  immedi- 
ately in  a  fituation  to  eflablifli  a  mercantile  connexion  of  any  kind — much  lefs,  fuch  an 
intercourfe  as  the  Phenician  trade  implies  ?  By  what  (c) divination  were  they  inftantaneoufly 
du-efted  to  the  minerals  of  Danmonium — whether  thofe  treafures  were  deep  buried  in 
the  bowels  of  the  earth,  or  whether  they  lay  not  far  below  the  furface  of  it  ?  By  what 
wonderful  procefs  could  they  fo  rapidly  prepai'e  their  tin  for  exportation  ?  Surely  we 

{a)  See  Genuine  Hiftory  of  the  Britons  aflerted,  p.  29,  30,  31,  32. 
{h)  Ricard,  Men,  Dt  Sit«  Brhanr..  Lib.  2.  Cap.  i.       {c)  I  might  fay  "  by  what  Firgula  Divinatona  !'* 

might 


g  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

might  allow  fome  time  for  the  fettling  of  emigrators  on  an  unknown  ifland — for  clearing 
away  part  of  its  woods  to  make  room  for  human  habitations — for  the  culture  of  its  foil, 
to  fupply  the  necefTities  of  life — before  we  looked  to  the  dilcovery  of  its  fubternnean 
riches.  Such  a  difcovery  is  generally  prompted  by  motives  of  avarice,  of  curiofit)',  or 
of  luxury — motives  which  do  not  operate  till  the  immediate  wants  of  life  are  fatisfied'. 
But,  after  thofe  produftions  of  the  earth  were  brought  to  light,  could  the  natives  (as  | 
have  already  alked)  have  iuddenly  converted  them  into  articles  of  commerce  ?  And, 
when  the  Danmonian  tin  was  become  a  marketable  commodity,  was  it  not  by  a  ftrange 
concurrence  of  circumftances,  that  a  regular  trade  began  that  very  moment,  with  ib 
remote  a  people  as  the  Phenician  merchants  ? — The  conclufion,  therefore,  to  be  drawn 
from  this  paflage  in  Richard,  is,  that  fo  far  from  being  now  firft  colonized,  the  ifland, 
about  a  thoufand  years  before  Chrift,  was  well  cultured  and  peopled  ;  and  that  foreign, 
mercliants  had  begun  to  trade  with  its  inhabitants.  So  that  the  paflage  in  quefliion, 
•whillt  it  memorizes  the  fertility  and  populoufnefs  of  the  illand,  refers  to  the  rtrft  eftablirti- 
ment  of  the  Britifh  commerce,  (a)  It  is  wonderful,  however,  that  Mr.  Whitaker,  whilft 
he  lays  fome  ftrefs  on  the  paflage,  as  corroborating  his  opinion  relative  to  the  peopling  of 
the  ifland,  not  only  rejefts  its  more  natural  import,  with  regard  to  the  Britifii  commerce, 
but  aflerts  in  direft  contradiftion  to  Richard,  that  the  Phenicians  jiijf  traded  with  the 
Britifli  Belga ;  fince,  Richard  plainly  intimates,  that  the  Phenicians  and  Greeks  began 
to  trade  with  the  natives,  full  fix  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  the  Belgae  arrived  in 
Britain  from  the  Continent. 

As  to  the  inhabitation  of  the  ifland,  it  mufl:  neceflTarily  have  ta^en  place,  many  centu- 
ries before. 

That  the  evidence  may  be  fummed  up  as  fatisfaftorily  as  pofllble  in  fo  doubtful 
a  cafe,  Mr.  Whitaker  hath  referred  us  to  a  higher  tribunal  than  that  of  Richard.  He 
hath  referred  us  to  Csefar.  All  parties,  indeed,  feem  *' to  appeal  unto  Caifar:''"  let 
Casfiu-,  then,  decide  the  quefliion.  The  principal  piu-ticulars  concerning  Britain,  in 
Csfar's  commentaries,  are  as  follows,  (b)  In  the  4th  book,  Csefar  gives  his  reafon  for 
invading  Britain — the  aflift:ance  afforded  by  the  iflanders  to  the  enemy.  The  ifland  (fays 
he)  its  inhabitants,  harbours,  coafts,  and  places  of  defcent,  were  almofl;  unknown  to  the 
Gauls.  Some  merchants  frequented  Britain,  for  the  fake  of  trade  :  but  they  knew  only 
the  coafts  oppofite  to  Gaul.  In  every  other  refpeft,  even  they  were  ftrangers  to  the 
countr)'  and  to  the  extent  of  the  ifland,  and  ignorant  who  were  the  inhabitants,  or  what 
their  cuftoms  were,  or  art  of  war,  or  military  force,  or  moft  commodious  harbours.  In 
the  4th  book  alfo,  (c)  Csfar  lands  in  Britain,  and  defcribes  the  war-chariots  of  the  Britons 
armed  with  fcythes,  and  adds  (in  the  ftrongeft  language)  that  the  Romans  were  ajlo- 
mjied  and  terrified  at  this  neiv  mode  of  fighting.  He  retreats  into  Gaul.  In  the  5th 
book,  Ca;far  prepares  for  a  fecond  invafion  of  the  ifland.  He  pafles  over  into  Britain  ; 
and  he  thus  defcribes  the  inhabitants.  The  fea-coafl:  or  maritime  parts  are  inhabited  by 
different  tribes  from  Belgium,  who  came  from  the  Continent,  allured  by  the  love  of  war 
and  plunder.  And  thefe  different  people,  fettling  in  the  country,  retain  the  names  of 
the  tribes  and  ftates  from  whence  they  are  defcended.  But  the  interior  parts  are  inha- 
bited by  thofe,  who,  according  to  general  fame,  are  reputed  to  be  the  original  natives  of 
tlie  foil.  In  the  15th  feftion,  the  enemy,  fupported  by  their  chariots,  vigoroufly  charged 
the  Roman  cavalry  and  advanced  guard — a  fliarp  conflift  enfued — Casfar  fent  two  coliorts 
to  fupport  his  men — but  they  were  {d)  fo  terrified  by  the  neiv  manner  of  fighting,  that  they 
were  broken  through  and  routed.  By  this  aftion  it  appeared,  (£)  that  the  legions  were  by 
no  means  a  fit  match  for  fuch  an  enemy :  nor  could  even  the  cavalry  engage  without  great 

(a)  Had  Richard  Intended  to  point  out  merely  the  original  inhabitation  of  Britain,  he  would  not 
have  placed  cultam  before  bah'uatam.  That  the  ifland  was  cultivated  firfl^  and  peopled  afterwardt 
feems  rather  odd.  Jt  is  a  ujieron-prcteron  of  which  fo  accurate  a  writer  as  Richard  could  not  have 
been  guilty. 

[b)  Siu'jd  omnibui  fere  gallich  bellis,  hojiibui  noflr'u  inde  fubmlmjlrata  auxtlla  intelllgebat.  See  Delphin. 
Edit.  ofCafar's  Comment.  Lond.  printed  17 19.  P.  79, 5^0,  &c.  Suetonius  afligns  a  very  different 
rtafon  for  this  invafion — intelligence  of  the  wealth  of  the  ifland  :  Caefar  had  heard  of  the  tin  of  Dan- 
monium  and  of  the  pearl-fifliery. 

(f)  Seftion  23d,  33d,  34th.  Nr>jiri  perterriu^atque  hujus  cmmno  generis  pugna  pcrterriti—perturbttti 
tiifirit  n'j^itate  pugna — In  the  2d  book  of  the  Fharfalia,  Pompcy  fays,  that  Caefar: 
Ternta  quafitis  oftcndit  tcrga  Britcninh, 
{d)  Novo  generepugna perterritis  mjlris.     P.  95.  (f)  Seftion  l6th. 

danger— 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  g 

V-mger— the  cneiny  ibmetimes  fighting  in  their  chariots,  then  fuddenly  quitting  their 
chariots  and  fighting-  von  foot,  in  detached  parties.  In  the  6th  book,  Caefar  fays — •'  Over  all 

Gaul  there  are  only  two  orders  of  inen,  who  h'ctve  in  any  degree  honor  or  power all  the 

reft  are  (laves.  Thefe  are,  the  Nobles  and  the  Druids.  The  Druids  prefide  over  matters 
of  religion  and  of  law  :  the  whole  ftudy  and  occupation  of  the  Nobles,  is  war.  The  infti- 
fution  of  the  Druids,  is  faid  to  have  come  originally  from  (a)  Britain.  From  Britain  it 
pafled  into  Gaul :  and  ftill,  thofe  who  wifn  to  be  perfect  in  this  religion,  travel  into  Britain 
for  inftruction.  What  the  Druids  committed  to  writing,  is  written  in  Greel:  letters. "(^) 
The  ftudies  and  religion  of  tlie  Druids  are  in  the  fame  book,  defcribed  to  be  as  follows 

— "  An  exaft  obfervation  and   knowledge  of  the  motions  of  the  Heavenly  Bodies 

enquiries  into  the  origin  and  nature  of  .\11  Things — and  the  power  of  the  Immortal  Gods  • 
with  a  belief  that  the  e%'er-living  foul  paiTes  from  one  body  into  another.  In  the  fame 
book,  tlie  Gauls  efteem  themfelves  to  be  defcended  from  Father  Dis. — So  the  Druids, 
who  hrvve  the  fecret  in  their  liands,  inftrucl  them.  They  reckon  time  by  nichts  and  not 
by  dayj:.  The  Germans  differ  widely  from  the  Gauls.  They  know  nothing  of  the  Druids 
or  of  facrifices."  Thefe  notices  of  Julius  Cx-far  are  faithfull}^  reported.  And  they  wilj 
elucidate  feveral  points  of  difcuffion  in  tiie  following  feclions.  Our  chief  point,  at  pre- 
sent, is  the  firft  colonization  of  the  ifland.  I  fhall  only  obfer\e  on  the  whole  extract,  that 
an  the  firft  p?.rt — book  the  4.th — Csefar  is  not  fo  clear  in  his  account  as  in  the  fubfequent 


certainty 

his  own  knowledge.  "  But  in  the  5th  book,  after  his  fecond  defcent,  he  talks  no  longer  of 
obtaining  inteiligeiice  from  merchants  :  he  fpeaks  politiveiy  and  clearly,  as  from  his  own 
knowledge  and  opinion,  grounded  upon  a  more  intimate  view  of  the  people.  And  his 
dilKnftion  bet^veeu  the  p?.rts  of  Britain,  which  had  been  fettled  fi-om  the  Continent,  and 
the  parts  which  were  inhabited  by  thofe  v.ho  did  not  come  from  the  Continent,  is  fti-ongly 
and  decifively  marked.  And,  in  his  account  of  the  war-chariots  of  the  Britons  and  their 
manner  of  fighting,  utterly  new  and  unknown  to  the  Romans,  and  of  their  other  cuftoms 
as  well  as  their  religion,  there  are  a  clearnefs  and  a  difcrimination  that  fpeak  a  tliorough 
acquaintance  with  his  fubjeft.  V/jth  refpecr  to  the  fnll  fettlers,  Csefar's  account  direftly 
implies,  that  they  did  not  ccme  from  the  Continent — for  he  fpeaks  of  thofe  who  did  j 
and  whom  he  well  knew  ;  and  with  whon;,  .is  knowing  them,  he  negociated  in  private  to 
facilitate  the  iiiccefs  of  his  invafion.  Tliough  the  Belgre,  then,  and  various  continental 
tribes  of  the  Celtic  race  had  pafled  over  and  fettled  in  the  maritime  parts,  witli  whom  he 
had  fome  acquaintance  ;  yet  none  of  thefe  tiibes  were  the  Aborigines  of  the  ifland:  nor 
could  any  of  thefe  contineiitrJ  invaders  give  him  the  Icail  fatisfactory  infoiTnation  relative 
to  the  Aborigines.  We  fhould  remark,  alfo,  that  the  continental  fettlers  caixied  their 
original  names  with  them  into  the  ifland :  and  the  tribes  from  whom  they  were  defcended, 
retained  thofe  names  on  the  continent.  The  Belgs  of  Gaul  had  ftiil  their  name  re-echoed 
by  the  Belgas  of  Britain.  But  where  on  the  continent  of  Europe  fliall  we  find  tlie  name  of 
the  Aboriginal  Britons  ?  Yet  they  had  a  name  ;  and  their  name  was  Damnouii.  When,  in 
a  fubfequent  age,  fome  oftheDsnmonii  paSfed  over  from  Britain  into  Ireland,  the)'  carried 
thither  their  hereditary  name,  though  it  was  ftill  retained  in  Britain.  Such  would  have 
been  precifely  the  cafe  with  a  colony  from  Gaul.  And  the  Danmonii,  if  derived  from 
thence,  would  have  been  recognized  on  the  Continent,  as  bearing  the  name  of  their 
progenitors.  Their  traditional  (r)  ideas  of  their  own  origin,  indeed,  fliould  render  us, 
at  leait,  cautious  in  deriving  the  Britons  from  Gaul ;  and  ftill  more  cautious  in  deriving 
them  from  Gaul  fo  late  as  about  a  thoufand  years  before  C?elar.  For  if  they  had  emi- 
grated at  fo  late  a  period  from  the  Continent,  they  would  probably  have  prefer\'ed  fome 

(3)  In  a  note  to  Biihop  Gibfon's  edition  of  Camden,  it  is  obferved  :  "  that  the  Britons  and  Gauls 
having  tlie  fame  religion,  coes  plainly  argue  an  alliancf,  as  Mr.  Camden  urges.  But,  if  the  difcipline 
of  the  Druids,  fo  ccnfultrable  both  for  religion  and  government,  were,  as  Casfar  obfe^^'es,  firft  found 
in  Rritain,  aiid  thence  conveyed  into  Gaul,  does  it  not  feem  to  intimate,  that  Bntalr.  mufl  hai-c  been 
fe'jpUd  before  Gaul,  as  having  by  lon5;cr  experience  arrived  at  a  mere  complete  fcheme  of  religion 
and  government  ?  Befides,  if  our  ifland  had  been  peopled  from  Gaul,  would  it  not  look  probable  to 
fay,  they  muft  bring  along  with  tJiem  the  religion  and  difcipline  of  the  place  ?"  See  Gibfon's  Camden. 
Britan.  p.  14, 

{_b)  If  crajfu  be  not  the  true  reading— a  point  v?hich  VvlU  hereafter  be  difeufled. 

(<•)  Noticed  above. 
Vol.  I.  B  account 


10  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

account  of  their  original,  in  Casfar's  time  :  they  woi^ld  have  retained  at  leaft  an  Indiftinft 
idea  of  their  real  defcent.  The  Belgse  leaving  Gaul  650  years  afterwards,  preferved  the 
hillory  of  their  emigration,  and  correijaonded  with  their  continental  fathers.  This  emi- 
gration was  about  3 50  yeais  before  Caefar.  They  preferved,  therefore,  their  hilfory  and' 
their  connexion  with  their  fathers,  for  350  years.  Let  us  allow  the  Aboriginal  Britons 
the  fame  fpace  of  tmie,  for  the  ianie  hiftory  and  the  fame  correfpondence.  If  this  be  the 
cafe,  they  were  in  polfeflion  of  their  colonial  hiftoiy,  and  they  were  correfponding  with 
tlieir  fathers  on  the  Continent,  300  years  before  the  arrival  of  the  Belgas.  During  the 
fpace  of  thefe  300  years,  we  may  conceive  that  the  clearnefs  of  their  hiilory  was  fome- 
what  oblcured,  and  that  their  correfpondence  with  their  fathers  had  ceafed  to  be  regularly 
maintained  :  but  we  cannot  fuppole,  that,  during  this  time,  their  colonial  memoirs  and 
their  continental  connexions  were  utterly  annihilated.  If,  then,  the  traces  of  their 
alliance  remained,  however  faint,  at  the  arrival  of  theBelgae,  about  3  50  years  before  Cjefar, 
nothing  is  more  probable  than  that  thofe  fading  traces  were  refrefhed  by  the  Belgse,  who 
came  from  Gaul  and  muft  have  known  their  connexions  on  the  Continent.  The  Belgx, 
it  is  true,  were  their  enemies.  But  the  language  of  the  Belgs,  the  fame  as  their  own, 
muft  have  awakened  every  dormant  idea  of  their  former  friends.  For  the  laft  350  years, 
tlaerefore,  before  Cacfar,  the  native  Britons  would  have  been  in  no  danger  of  lofing  the 
memorials  of  their  origin.  F-ven  by  a  hollile  communication  with  the  Belgse,  they  muft 
have  renewed  the  veftiges  of  their  primitive  alliance :  and  thefe  veftiges,  when  once 
reftored,  could  not  have  peridied  before  the  time  of  Csefar.  Their  fecond  tendency  to 
decay,  was  furely  not  fo  rapid  as  their  firft.  But  hiftory  informs  us,  that  the  Aborigines 
adhially  kept  up  a  correfpondence  with  the  Continent  by  means  of  the  Druids  of  Britain 
and  Gaul.  It  is  impoflible,  then,  that  they  could  have  been  ignorant  of  their  true  origin, 
if  derived  from  Gaul — much  lefs,  could  they  have  maintained  a  tradition  of  tlieir  imme- 
diate defcent  from  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  migration  from  Babel.  It  is  ridiculous  to 
fuppofe  that  in  fo  (hort  a  fp:;ce  of  time  fuch  an  idea  could  have  been  introduced  and  have 
iiniverfally  prevailed  among  the  Aboriginal  Britons,  if  merely  a  Gaulifli  colony. 

Ifitbeafked,  at  what  period  are  we  to  fix  the  emigration  from  the  eaft  or  from 
Armenia  to  theBritilh  illes  ?  I  anfwer,  that,  probably,  it  was  not  long  after  the  difperfion 
from  Babel — at  the  deftruflion  of  the  great  monarchy  or  empire  of  Nimrod.  Polydore 
Virgil  recites  the  various  traditions  and  accounts  of  the  firft  peopling  of  Britain,  and 
inchnes  to  the  opinion,  that  it  w-as  originally  colonized  not  long  after  the  difperfion. 
Humphry  Llhuyd  quotes  Ariftotle  de  Mum/o  addreffed  to  Alexander  the  Great ;  where 
it  is  afierted,  that  Britain,  which  he  calls  Albion,  was  fettled  A.M.  2220,  and  was  fo 
named  by  the  ancient  inhabitants  long  before  the  Roman  name  was  ever  known  in  Britain. 
We  find  Theophilus,  Bifliop  of  Antioch,  writing  thus  160  years  after  Chrift — "  cum, 
frlfcis  temporibus  pauci  forent  homines  in  Arabia  et  ChalJaa,  pojl  lingiiarum  di-x'ifionem  audi 
et  inultiplicati  paulatim  funt .  Tunc  qui  dam  abierunt  <veTfus  orient  em  ;  quidam  conceJJ'ere  ad 
partes  majoris  continentis,  alii  porro  profeili  funt  ad  feptentrionem,  fedes  quafituri ;  vec  prius 
defierunt  terram  ubique  occupare,  quatn  etiam  Britannos  in  Arctois  citmatibus  accejferint .'"' 
Here  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  Theophilus  confiders  this  ijland  as  already  peopled.,  and 
inhabited  by  Britons,  even  before  thefe  emigrators,  fome  time  after  the  difperfion  at  the 
Tower  of  Babel,  begun  to  colonize  the  different  parts  of  the  world.  Nothing,  in  truth,  is 
more  credible,  than  that  the  fouth-v.^eft  part  of  our  Ifiand  vyas  peopled  by  fea ;  whilft  the 
weftern  parts  of  Europe  were  abfolutely  uninhabited;  fince  it  was  long  before  mankind 
could  have  migrated  fo  far  weftward  by  land.  In  the  nature  of  things,  emigrations  by  land 
muft  go  on  much  flower  than  by  lea.  In  the  mean  time,  the  moft  ancient  hiftorians 
agree  that  the  fea,  nov/  called  the  Mediterranean,  was  formerly  an  inland  hike,  as  alfo 
the  Fontus  Euxinus ;  but  that  in  procefs  of  time,  by  a  great  deluge,  the  latter  forced  its 
way  into  the  former,  and  the  former  into  the  ocean  by  the  ftraits  of  Hercules  or 
Gibraltar — Before  tliat  time,  therefore,  there  could  be  no  navigation  from  tlie  coafts  of 
Afia  to  the  weftern  ocean  ;  and  the  communication,  if  any,  muft  have  been  m  part,  by  a 
journey  overland  from  Marfeilles,  or  from  Cadiz,  and  from  thence  by  taking  fliipping 
on  the  coafts  of  Spain.  To  fix  the  aera,  therefore,  of  the  deluge  I  mention,  would  pro- 
bably fix  the  date  of  the  peopling  of  Britain  and  Ireland. 

But,  without  entering  into  conjeflures  on  a  period  fo  remote,  it  feems  unqueftion- 
able  that  Britain,  as  well  as  Ireland,  was  peopled  in  very  early  times,  from  the  eaftern 
countries.  The  Danmonii,  in  fliort,  are  entitled,  beyond  difpute,  to  rank  among  the 
mojl  ancient  Nations  in  the  world—as  the  Romans  termed  them  Aborigines — that  is, 

atnot!^ 


tHE   BRITISH   PERIOD.  n 

among  the  firft  race  of  mankmd.  The  Romans  never  employed  this  expreflion  in  any 
other  fenfe. 

This  much  for  the  firft  peopling  of  the  iflund,  or  rather  the  fouth-weft  parts  of  it :  For 
I  confider  the  fouth  of  Devonfliire  as  aftually  colonized,  whillt  the  reft  of  the  ifland  wa3 
yet  a  defert,  arid  even  the  oppofite  continent  of  Gaul  and  the  greater  part  of  Europe  were 
uninhabited. 

That  there  were  other  emigrations  from  very  diftant  countries  into  Britain,  before  the 
invafion  of  Julius  Cafar,  is  extremely  probable.  The  Indigena;  of  the  Land  of  Pro?nifet 
the  Canaanites,  afterwards  called  the  Phenicians,  having  been  difpodefied  by  Joftiua, 
about  one  thoufand  four  hundred  years  before  Chrift,  made  vaft  emigrations  into  the 
iflands  of  the  Mediterranean  fea.  Aiid,  perhaps,  there  was  no  great  interval  of  time  be- 
fore they  reached  the  Britifti  ides. 

The  voyages  of  the  Phenicians  to  Danmonium  were  not  mercantile  only.   (<?) 

"  It  is  (o  certain  as  to  be  univerlally  allowed  among  the  learned,  (fays  {b)  Wells)  that 
the  Carthaginians  were  a  colony  of  the  Tyrians  ov  Phenicians,  and  fo  dependents  of  Canaan. 
It  is  alfo  generally  believed,  and  that  not  without  grounds,  that  this  colony  came  from 
the  Land  rf  Canaan  at  the  time  when  Jojhua  in^vaded  it."'  Meantime  it  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, that  the  Phenicians,  wherever  they  wifhed  to  fix  their  trade,  flaiited  colonies  and 
built  cities.  All  along  the  coafts  of  the  Mediterranean,  they  eftablilhed  themfelves  iti 
this  manner;  and,  \  hen  they  paifed  the  Straits,  they  purfued  the  iame  plan.  When  they 
became  acquainted,  therefore,  with  the  fouth-weft  coafts  of  our  illand,  it  is  very  unlikely 
that  they  fhould  drop  their  original  uniform  plan,  and  not  attempt  to  gain  a  permanent 
footing  in  fo  diftant  a  country  j  the  trade  with  which  was  certainly  more  precarious  in 
proportion  to  its  remotenefs,  and  with  which  they  were  interefted  in  preferving  a  regu- 
lar intercourfe  for  ages. 

A  Phenician  colony  muft  eafily  have  united  with  the  aboriginal  Iflanders,  as  they 
derived  their  religion  from  the  fame  fource,  and  differed  very  little  from  the  Armenian 
Britons,  in  their  language,  manners,  or  cuftoms. 

After  the  Phenicians,  cam.e  the  Greeks,  to  trade  in  the  weftern  parts  for  tin  and  lead, 
and  other  articles,  and  called  the  Britifh  ifles  the  Caffiterides. 

And  that  a  Grecian  colony  aftually  fettled  here,  may  appear  from  the  number  of  Greek 
words  introduced  into  the  language  of  Danmonium. 

We  now  come  to  the  common  and  popular  notion — the  peopling  of  fome  parts  of  our 
Ifland,  by  the  nations  from  the  neighbouring  continent :  For  this  we  by  no  means  intend 
to  deny,  though  we  maintain  the  probability  of  a  prior  colonization  from  the  eaft. 

Mr.  Carte,  who  is  totally  miftaken  in  all  his  pofitions,  and  whofe  antiquities  are  replete 
with  error,  is  even  lb  negligent  as  to  miftate  the  time,  when  the  Belgje  made  their  incur- 
fion  into  this  ifland.  And  he  pofitively  tells  us,  that  "  Devonfliire  and  Cornwall  were 
all,  in  a  manner,  wild  foreft,  at  the  coming  of  the  Belgas,  as  they  continued  to  be  in  a 
great  degree,  till  within  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  conqueft."  This  falfe 
aflTertion,  manifeftly  againft  the  truth  of  all  hiftory,  (c)  while  it  militates  againft  com- 
mon fenfe,  is  too  ridiculous  to  merit  one  moment's  attention.  The  Belgae,  we  find 
from  Richard,  made  their  expedition  into  this  ifland,  from  Gaul,  three  centuries  and 
half  before  Chrift.  And,  in  the  courfe  of  tv/o  hundred  and  fifty  years,  as  Mr.  Whitaker 
thinks,  they  extended  their  conquefts  in  this  ifland,  over  Kent  and  a  fmall  part  of  M\A- 
dlefex,  over  Suflex  and  the  greateft  part  of  Hamplhire  and  Wiltfliire,  over  Dorfetfliire, 
Devonfliire,  and  a  part  of  Cornwall. 

Driven  out  by  tliefe  invaders,  Mr.  Whitaker  tells  us,  many  of  the  Britons,  (aboriginal 
Britons,  as  I  conceive)  pafled  over  into  Ireland. 

When  the  Belgse,  fays  he,,  firft  landed  upon  the  fouthern  fliore  of  Britain,  about  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years  before  the  chriftian  sera,  and  took  poifefl'ion  of  Kent,  Sufl"ex, 
Hampfliire,  Dorfetfliire,  and  Devonfliire,  the  Britons,  diflodged  from  their  ancient  fet- 
tlements,  tranlporred  themfelves  into  the  neighbouring  ifle  of  Ireland. 

{a)  Dr.  Stukely  intimates  in  his  Memoirs  to  Soc.  Antiq.  (Dec.  3CI,  1761)  that  the  Britons,  from 
their  firft  plantation  here,  under  the  Tyrian  Hercules,  by  the  Phemdans,  from  the  Red  Sea  and  Ara- 
bia, had  been  fecluded  many  ages  from  the  reft  of  the  v/orld  j  and  tliat  this   plantation   took 

PLACE  BEFCRE  GaUL  WAS  PEOPLED. 

{h)  See  his  Oeog,  of  the  Old  and  New  Teft.  vol.  i.  p.  149. 

(i)  Hume,  in  his  fliort  notice  of  the  .^nti<^uities  of  the  Ifland,  is  almoft  as  miftaken  as  Carte. 

Vol.  I.  B  2  The 


12  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    gf    DEVONSHIRE.* 

The  BelgcE,  continues  Mr.  Whitaker,  had  been  thus  fettled  two  hundred  and  lifty 
yeais  in  the  illand,  when  Divitiacus  came  over  from  Gaul,  into  it.  He  had  acquired  the 
Sovereignty  of  the  continental  and  illand  Belga;.  Ai\d,  bringing  over  a  large  icinforce- 
ment  of  the  former,  he  enabled  the  latter  to  extend  their  poflefllons  into  the  interior 
parts  of  the  countiy.  And  he  fubdued  the  reft  of  Middlefex  and  all  Eflex,  all  Surrey, 
the  reft  of  Hampfliire,  and  the  adjoining  parts  of  Berklhire,  the  reft  of  Wiltftiii-e,  the 
remainder  of  Cornwall,  all  Somerfetlhire,  and  the  fouth-well  of  Gloucefl;erlhiie. 

Hence  a  fecond  emigration  of  the  Britons  into  Ireland.  * 

But  it  by  no  means  appears  from  Richard,  Mr.  Wliitaker's  principal  aucbority,  that 
tlie  Belgas  had  conquered  fo  great  a  part  of  the  illand,  before  tiit  arrival  of  Divitiacus. 
Richard  fnnply  informs  us.  Has  terras  intrarunt  Belgce.  That  they  at  that  time  reduced 
•f  Devonfliire,  or  obliged  fo  great  a  number  of  its  inhabitants  (the  aboriginal  Danmonii) 
to  take  refuge  acrols  the  leas,  and  poifeis  themlelves  of  Ireland,  is  furely  an  affertion 
witliout  proof.  Not  long  after  (iays  Richard)  Divitiacus  turived  and  fubdued  a  great 
part  of  tliis  kingdom  of  the  Britons. 

"  Non  diu  fojiea  ciun  excrcituin  hOjC  regnutn  tranjlit  Rex  ^Juorum  Di'Jttiacus,  magnamque 
rj us  partem  fubegit. 

But,  according  to  Mr.  Whitaker,  a  great  part  of  the  Britifli  kingdom  was  already  fub- 
dued to  his  hands.  Mr.  Whitaker,  however,  afligns  him  his  talk  with  great  preciilon, 
gives  him  feveral  provinces  to  conquer,  and  reprefents  a  fecond  party  of  aboriginul 
Emigrants  flying  befoie  his  arms  into  Ireland.  Yet,  fi-om  Richard's  account,  I  rtiould 
conceive  that  only  one  emigration  had  taken  place,  in  confequence  of  the  Belgic  invafions. 

A.  M.  M.  M.  M.  D.  c.  L.  Circa  hac  tempera  in  Hiberma?n  commigrarunt  eje^i  a  Be/gis 
Britones,  ibique  fedes  pofuerunt,  ex  illo  tempore  Scoti  appellaii. 

That  the  Belgae  made  fuch  inroads  into  Devonlhire,  as  to  force  great  numbers  of  the 
Danmonii,  or  Aborigines  of  the  Weft,  from  their  ancient  feats,  and  occalion  their  emigration 
into  Ireland,  is  evident  beyond  a  doubt :  But  fo  complete  a  redu<5lion  of  Devonfliire,  by 
the  Belgx-,  even  before  Divitiacus,  is,  furel)',  not  to  be  admitted  as  an  hiftorical  fact.  I 
can  fcarcely  imagine,  indeed,  that  the  Belgae,  thus  reinforced  by  Divitiacus,  made,  an 
entire  conqueft  of  Devon  and  Cornwall.  But,  whatever  was  the  fuccefs  of  the  Belgre, 
it  is  certain,  that  the  Bntons  of  the  coafts  very  loon  combined  together  to  oppcie  tlie 
common  enemy.  Before  the  coming  of  the  Romans,  we  find  from  Richard,  that  gejlum 
efr  CaJJlbelhii  cum  ci^uitatibus  maritimis  bellum.  Under  CafTibelinus  the  Britons  prolecu- 
ted  the  war  againft:  tlie  Belgaj  :  And,  if  Britifli  Exeter  were  ever  occupied  by  tlie  Belgas^ 
it  was  recovered  by  Caflibelinus  before  the  arrival  of  Cxfar. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Cimbri  and  the  Carnabii  (from  the  neighbouring  Continent 
alfo)  had  formed  fettlements  in  the  weft  of  the  illand. 

The  Cimbri  (fa)'s  Mr.  Whitaker)  occupied  the  fouth-weft  of  Somerfet,  and  the  north- 
eaft  of  Cornwall,  as  far  as  the  river  Cambala. 

But  it  is  plain,  from  Richard,  that  the  north  of  Devon,  as  well  as  part  of  Somerfet  and 
Cornwall,  was  inhabited  by  the  Cimbri,  from  Bridgewater  quite  to  Hartland  Point;  and 
that  the  Cimbri  were  a  diftinft  people  from  the  Danmonii,  though  they  were  afterwards 
confidered  as  the  fame  people.  This  autbor,  fpeaking  of  the  lii'ft  peopling  of  Britaijx, 
fays,  that  although  various  ni'.tions  feated  themfelves  in  various  parts  of  Britain,  yet  it 
was  not  well  known  who  firft  peopled  the  iftand,  and  that  it  was  uncertain,  whether  the 
Cimbri  v>ere  the  Welch,  or  of  a  more  ancient  origin. 

T'lie  Carnabii  fpread  over  the  remainder  of  the  nortli  of  Cornwall,  and  over  all  the 
fouth-weft,  as  far  as  Falmouth  Haven. 

Such,  then,  were  the  diiferent  eftablifnments  of  the  tribes  from  the  Continent.  In  fixing 
thefe  fettlements  Mr.  Whitaker  is  doubtlefs  right.     But  when  he  endeavours  to  reduce 

{a)  The  Irifti  colony  (fays  Mr.  Whitaker)  was  afterwards  augmented  by  the  addition  of  other  Bri- 
tons, ecjually  diflodged  from  their  native  regions  by  the  Belgas,  and  eq\ialiy  repnirlng  to  the  wilds  of 
Irfc!a'-d.  This  fecond  emba  k  .tion  was  made  about  two  luindred  and  fifty  years  after  the  firflj 
when  t'le  Britons  fled  from  Divitiacus. 

{h)  Yet  Mr. Whitaker  himfelf  fays  (fee  his  Appendix  to  the  Hiftory  of  Manchefter,  No.  t.)  that  the 
Belgae  could  not  have  fettled  in  the  more  weflern  counties  at  firft.  Faffing,  afluredly,  acrofs  the  nar- 
roweft  part  of  the  fea,  and  confining  themfelves,  as  Cxfar  informs  us,  to  the  fouthcm  fliore  ;  rhey 
mufl  gradual'y  have  extended  their  dominions  from  Kent  to  the  Land's  End.  And  their  firft  pof- 
fleTions  would  be  Kent,  Suflex,  and  Hampfhire  3  and  DorCetfhire,  Devorjhire,  Somerfetthire,  and 
Cornwall  their  laft. 


The    BRITISH   PERIOD.  ,3 

the  Danmonii,  or  original  Britons,  upon  the  fame  footing  with  the  wandering  tribes  of 
Gaul ;  when  he  defcribes  the  Danmonii  of  Devonfliire  as  one  of  the  five  Belgic  colonies 
we  cannot  but  confider  him  as  involuntarily  fteering  againft  the  current  of  hillorical 
truth.     And  this  'vill,  I  truft,  appear  hereafter,  whether  the  name   of  the  Danmonii 
iheir  perfons,  or  their  chara6tei-,  be  the  fubjefts  of  inveftigation. 

On  the  whole,  it  fliould  leem,  that  v/hilfc  the  common  idea  of  a  colony  from  Ggul 
muft  be  admitted  as  true,  the  lefs  popular  notion  of  prior  colonizations  from  the  eaft 
may  at  leaft  be  fpecioully  defended.  He,  who  in  addition  to  the  extracts  before  us, 
would  bring  togethei-  the  various  pafTages  in  point,  which  occur  ia  Herodotus,  Strabo 
Poiybius,  or  Pliny,  (not  to  notice  oblburer  authors,)  would  be  induced,  perhaps,  to 
think,  that  if  Devonlliire  and  Cornwall  were  not  the  firft  inhabited  of  the  iiland,  yet  that 
the  Aboriginal  Britons  v,ere  Afiatic  j  and  that,  after  feveral  emigrations  from  the  eaft, 
the  Belga;  and  other  nations  fr(jm  the  Continent  poflefled  themfelves  (generally  fpeak- 
ing)  of  tlve  maritime  parts  of  Britain,  driving  a  great  number  of  the  Aborigines  into 
Ireland,  or  into  the  lieait  of  the  ifland. 


SECTION      II. 

VIEWoftk^DANMONIAN  SErTLEMENTS,  DIVISIONS  cf  LANDS,  and  GOVERN- 
MENT,   in  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Geography  of  Damnoniutn  frotn  Ftolemy— from  Richard — Settlements  of  the  Aborigines  or 
Danmonii  on  the  foufh -fide  cfthejugiim  Ocrinujn — of  the  Fhenicians  on  the  north-fide  of  the 

Jugum  Ocrinum — of  the  Greeks  to  the  fouth-iveji — of  the  Cimbri  to  the  north-eaf of  the 

Carnabii  to  the  north. -xvef — The  luhole  of  Deuonfiire  and  CornnvaU  reduced  by  the  Dan- 
monii.— II.  Di'vif.on  ofDamnonium  into  diJlriSls  or  clan/hips — a  number  of  clan/hips  forming 
a  cantred — a  ntimber  of  ca?itreds,  fuppofed  to  ha-ue  been  fix  in  Dantnonium,  forming  a 
kingdom — Landed  Property — Tenures  of  Lands — Ser'vices  of  the  Chiefs — of  the  Villains^ 
III.  Danmonian  Go-fermnent — Seats  of  Judicature  in  the  clanjhips,  cantreds  and  kingdom 
of  Danmonium — Probable  Vefiiges  of  Courts  or  Judgment-feats  in  each  of  the  fix  cantreds-— 
Prefiding  Ofjicers  in  the  Courts — Princes  ofDamnonium,  as  reported  in  the  Britifij  chronicles. 

IN  tile  former  feftion,  I  enumerated  the  different  emigrators  from  the  eaft,  from 
Greece,  and  fi-om  the  continent  of  Gaul,  by  whom  Danmonium  was,  fucceiTively, 
peopled.  To  draw  the  line  of  their  refpeCtive  fettlements  in  Danmonium,  to  mark  the 
divifions  of  their  landed  property,  and  to  afcertain  their  government,  before  the  Rornan 
arrival,  muft  be  tlie  bufmefs  of  the  prefent  feftion.  In  order  to  determine  thefe  points 
with  fome  degree  of  precifion,  I  fliall  firft  endeavour  to  rix  the  geography  of  Danmonium} 
adyerting  to  the  defcriptions  of  Ptolemy  and  of  Richard,  as  far  as  they  relate  to  the 
weftern  part  of  the  iiland.  Ptolemy  of  Alexandria,  who  fiouriihed  in  the  former  part  of 
the  iecond  century,  under  the  Emperors  Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  Antoninus  Pius,  is  one 
of  the  moft  ancient  geographers,  whofe  works  are  nov/  extant.  It  may  be  proper  to 
premife,  that  there  are  two  general  errors  in  Ptolemy  which  affeft  the  whole  geography  of 
the  iAand.  This  writer  has  made  all  England  declme  from  tlie  true  pofition  as  to  the 
iengtli  of  it,  and  entirely  changed  the  pofition  of  Scotland,  reprefenting  its  length  from 
eaft  to  weft,  inftead  of  from  fouth  to  north.  And  he  hath  placed  tlie  whole  of  South 
Britain  too  far  north,  by  two  or  tlu-ee  degrees.  I  muft  obferve,  alfo,  that  Ptolemy 
computes  the  longitude  from  Alexandria  in  .ffig}'pt,  the  place  of  his  refidence. 

In  the  defcription  of  the  weftern  fide  of  the  ifle  which  lies  along  the  Irifti  and  Vergivian 
feas,  after  the  Eftuary  Ov£|aAia:,  we  have 

Hf«>cA£«  otx^'sv — 10 — V7,     Promontory  of  Hercules  14.. GO  53.00 

A:\ioit-xio-f  xx^ov   TO  y,xi  (SoXsetoi — ,« — v^  A      Promontory  Antiveftasum,  fometimes 
called  Bolerium  11.00  52.30. 

AxfMvoviov  ro  y.xi  Oxfosv  x/.^oy     i(i     yx  h.     Promontor}'  Danmonium,  called  alfo  Ocri- 
num 12.00  '■1.30. 

In  the  defcription  of  the  next  fide,  lying  towards  the  fouth,  and  bounded  by  tlie  Britifh 
ocean,  after  the  promontory  Oc;  inum,  come 

K£>K<.yo>  TTo/.   t.'.QoKxt     1^     yet.  X^.     Mouth  of  the  river  Cenion  40.00  51.45 

Ta/Aa^tf  TjTil.  f;tosA»/     II  yo  >C  5-.    Mouih  of  the  river  Tamarus  15.40  52,10 


14  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

Jvaxx  vol.  tKCoXxt     <|     »/3y.     Mouth  of  the  river  Ifaca  17.00  52.20 

AX«/»«  woi.  fxooXa*  1^  70  »/3  70.     Mouth  of  the  river  Ala^nus  17.40  51.4.0 

The  Danmonil  aie  placed  next  to  the  Durotriges.  Me9  us  ^vij-/ji.iKx'lxloi  AoviJ.voviot , 
ti  on  TioXtis — Next  to  the  Durotriges,  in  the  moft  weftem  part,  are  the  Danmonii,  among 
whom  are  thefe  towns — 

OvoXifiji,     <J  Xl  v&y.      Voluba  14.45    52.20 

Ot;|eX»     «  »/3  X^.      Uxela  15.00  52.45 

TxfjLXfv     it  y0  J,     Tamare  15.00  52.15 

la-tcx  (|  X  »/3  xJ.     Ifca     17.30  52.45 

In  this  geographical  defcription,  the  Promontory  of  Hercules  is,  confefledly,  Hartland- 
Point,  in  the  well  corner  of  Devonfliire. 

The  Promontory  Anti-vejiaum,  or  Bolerium,  is  the  Land's-End — perhaps  called  Antive/f- 
erium,  from  tlie  Britifti  words  An  diiiez  Tir,  which  fignify  the  Land's-End ;  and  Bolerium 
from  'Sel  e  rbin,  tlie  head  of  a  Promontory,   (a) 

The  Promontory  Ocrinum  is  the  Lizard -Point  in  Cornwall ;  probably  called  Ocrinum, 
from  Och  rhin,  a  high  Promontory  :  And,  the  Lizard  h,  probably,  of  Britilh  derivation, 
from  L:f-ard,  a  lofty  projeftion.  {b)  Here  ends  Ptolemy's  Defcription  of  the  Weftem 
Coaft  of  Britain. 

In  his  defcription  of  the  next  fide,  lying  towards  the  fouth,  and  bounded  by  the  BntiA 
ocean,  Ptolemy  mentions — the  mouth  of  the  river  Cenion,  which  is  fuppofed  to  be  Fal- 
mouth Haven,  fo  called  from  the  Britifh  word  Genou,  a  mouth ;  of  which  tliere  is  ftill 
fome  veftige  in  the  name  of  a  neighbouring  town,  Tregouy.   (c) 

The  river  Tamarus  retains  its  ancient  name,  being  called  Tamar,  from  Tajnaranjy 
gentle  rii'er  :  And  its  mouth  is  Plymouth-Haven,   (d) 

The  river  Ifaca,  or  Ifca,  is  the  Exe,  wliicb,  palfmg  Exeter,  falls  into  the  fea  at 
Exmouth. 

The  river  Alaenus  is  fuppofed  to  be  the  Axe,  and  its  mouth  Axmouth.  It  was,  per- 
haps, called  Alaenus,  from  Alaun  iu,  the  full  river,   {e) 

The  towns  of  the  Danmonii  were  Foluha,  according  to  (f)  Camden  and  (g)  Baxter, 
Grampound,  but  in  {k)  Horlley's  opinion,  Loftwithiel — 

Uxela,  fuppofed  by  Mr.  (0  Camden  to  be  Loftwithiel— by  Mr.  {k)  Baxter,  Saltafh — 
by  (/)   Horfley,  Exeter. 

Tamare  was  certaijily  a  town  upon  the  Tamar.  {m)  Hordey  thmks  it  was  Saltafli — 
but  («)  Camden  and  (0)  Baxter  fuppofe  it  to  be  Tamarton,  retaining  its  ancient  name. 

Ifca,  or  Ifca  Danmoniorum,  was  Exeter,  the  capital  of  the  Danmonii. 

So  much  for  the  geography  of  Ptolemy,  as  far  as  it  relates  to  Danmoniam.  To 
Antoninus,  the  imperial  Notitia,  the  Anonymous  chorography,  and  the  Itinerary  of 
Richard,  I  ftiall  have  recourfe  hereafter. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  Richai-d's  defcriptions  muft  not  be  negleded  in  fixing  the 
Geography  of  the  illand. 

Mr.  Whitaker  was  the  firft  perfon  who  duly  appreciated  the  ^'alue  of  Richard's  work. 
(/)  Richard's  authorities,  fays  Mr.  Whitaker,  were  Ptolemy  and  his  contemporary  writers, 
the  tradition  of  the  Druids,  ancient  monuments,  documents  and  hiftories.  And  in 
Richard  is  a  Map  of  Britain,  (9)  drawn  up  by  himfclf,  "  fecimdum  f.dum  nmiumentontm 
per-veterum.'"  This  Mr.  Bertram  thinks  far  fuperior  to  all  the  reft  of  Richard's  com- 
raentaiy,  for  the  curioufnefs  and  antiquity  of  it.  And,  as  the  oldeft  nuip  of  the  illand 
tliat  is  now  extant,  and  the  only  old  one  of  Roman  Britain,  Mr.  Whitaker  admits  it  to 
be  a  great  curiofity.  Maps  of  the  ifland,  however,  were  not  uncommon  in  Richards 
time.  He  himfelf  fpeaks  of  fome,  as  recentiore  anjo  defcriptas,  and  generally  known,  (r) 
And  this  is  but  of  little  value  :  It  is  frequently  inaccurate  -.  It  frequently  contradicts  its 
own  itinerary. 

The  following  is  Richard's  defcription  of  the  Weft  of  Britain.  (/) 

"  Infra  Heduorum  terras  fiti  erunt  Durotriges,  qui  et  Morini  alias  njocantur.  Metro- 
poVrn  habebant  Durinum  et  promontoriiim  Vindeliam. 

{a)  Baxter,  p.  19,  36.  {b)  Baxter,  p.  186.  (c)  Baxter,  p.  77.  Camd.  Brit.  p.  16.  [d)  Baxter, 
p.  222.  fO  Baxter,  p.  10.  (fj  p.  17-  (£•)  P- ^54-  (^)  P- 378-  (0  p- t8.  (i)  p.  257.  (/)  p. 
-,-8.  (w)  p.  376.  (,i)  p.  25.  (0)  p.  221.  (p)  See  Hirtory  of  Manchefter,  vol.  i.  p.  83,  84,  85, 
86,  87,  88,  89,  90.  dilavo  edition.     (?)  In  the  14th  century,     (r)  p.  3.     (s)  p.  19,  ao. 


The   BRITISH   PERIOD.  15 

Jn  horiim  finihus  fenfnn  coarctaiur  Britannia,  et  'vnmenfum  efformare  •v'tdetur  brachiumy 
quod  irrupiionem  minitantem  commode  repellit  oceanum. 

In  hoc  brachio,  qua  intermljjione  Uxellse  amnis,  Heduorum  regioni  protenditur,  fita  erat 
regio  Cimbrorum.  Utrumne  -vera  modernum  Walliae  nomcji  dederint,  an  'vero  antiquior  fit 
Cimbrorum  origc — non  aque  confiat.  Urbes  illis  pracipua  Termolus  et  Artavia.  Vifuntur 
hie,  antiquis  fic  diSla,  YL^rcuYis  co\\ixx-m;£,  et  non  procul  bine  infula  Hercu\e3..  Sedafluminis 
Uxellse  Jinibus  continuutn  prociirrit  motit'tum  jugurn,  cut  nomen  Ocrinum,  extremumque  ejus 
ad  promontor\u77i  ejufdem  nominis  extend  tur. 

Ultra  Cimbros  exireminn  infid^  anguium  ineolebant  Carnabii ;  unde,  forfitan,  quod  hodie- 
que  retinet  nomen,  obtinuit  Carnubia.  Urbes  habebant  Muildum  et  Halangium.  Cum  'vera 
has  clan  defertas  propemodum  et  mcultas  Britannia  partes  Romani  numquam  faluta'Xierinf, 
minoris  omnino  ?nome7iti  urbes  eorum  fuiJJ'e  --videntur,  et  HiJIoricis  propter ea  negleSla,  Geogr aphis 
tamen  juemorantur  promuntoriq  Bolerhim  et  Antiveftasum. 

Memoratis  -modo  populis  in  littore  oceani  aujirum  'verfus  affines  ad  Belgas-Allobroges,  fedent 
habebant 'DvLnmorin,  GENS  omnium  validissima;  qua  ratio  tno-uije -videtur  Ptolemaum^ 
ut  totum  hiinc  terra  tratium  qui  in  mare  brachii  injlar  pratenditur,  illis  adfcripferit .  Urbes 
habebant  Uxellam,  Tamaram,  Volubam,  Ceniam,  omniumque  matrem  Ifcam,  flwvio  cog~ 
mmini  im?ni7ientem.  Flut'ii  apud  ipfos  pracipui  ?nemorati  modo  Ifca,  Durius,  Tamarus  atque 
Cenius.  Ora  eorum  maritima  prortiuntoria  exhibet  tria,  de  quibus  max  paulo  dicemus.  Hanc 
regionem,  iitpote  metallis  abundantem  Phanicibus  Gracis  et  Gallis  mercatoribus  probe 
potam  fuiffe  conftat.  Hi  enim  ob  magnam,  quam  terra  ferebat,  fianni  copiam  eo  fua  frequenter 
(xtendebant  negotia\  cujus  rei  pracipuafunt  documenta  fupra  nominata  tria  promuntoria—~ 
iltlems fcilicet,  Ocrinum  etK^m  (asIwjtov,  ut  et  tiomina  ciuitatum,  Gr^cam  Pheniciam- 
<JUE  Origin  EM  redolentia.  (a) 

Ultra  hrachium  in  oceano  fita  funt  infula  Sygdiles,  qua  etiam  Oeftrominides  et  Caflite- 
rides  'vocaba?itur,  diSla."''   {f) 

Such  are  our  beft  documents  relating  to  the  Geography  of  Danmonium.  And  I  fhould 
dlfpofe  of  our  fucceffive  colonifts  in  the  following  manner. 

The  Aboriginal  colony  from  the  eaft,  occupied  perhaps,  at  firft,  little  more  than  the 
fouth  coalls  of  Devonlhire.     And  they  afterwards  extended  their  fettlements  along  the 

[a)  UercuUi  prom.  Hartland  Point. 

Ant'wefiaum  prom.  Land's  End. 

Ocrinum  from.  Lizard  Point. 

Cenion.f.u-v.  ojiia.  Valle  River. 

Tamari  fwv .  oJiia.  Tamar  River. 

Jfacaflwv.  fita.  Exe  River.  Rich.  not.  p.  175. 
(i)  With  refpedt  to  the  weft  of  the  ifland,  Mr.Whltaker  fays  :  "  ThsDnrctt-igei  ox  Morin't,  lived  in 
Dorfetfhire,  and  had  Dur'winn,  Durr.ovaria  or  Dorchefler  for  tlieir  capital.  And  the  Hadui  filled 
all  Somerfetfhire  to  the  JEfuary  Uxclla,  Bridgewater  Bay,  or  the  river  of  Ivel,  on  the  fouth  ;  the 
Touth-weft  of  Gloucefterfhire,  to  the  hills  of  Wotton-Under-Edge,  or  its  vicinity;  and  the  north- 
weft  of  Wiltfhire,  to  the  Avon  and  Cricklade.  (i)  Thefe,  however,  appear  from  Ptolemy,  to  have 
been  fubdued  by  the  Belgje  ;  their  country  being  exprefsly  afcrlbed  by  him  to  that  people,  (a)  The 
Cimbri  extended  over  the  reft  of  Somerfetftiire,  except  a  fmall  part  to  the  eaft  of  the  Thone,  (3) 
and  along  the  north  of  Cornwall,  as  far  as  the  river  Cambala,  the  Camel,  or  Padftow  Harbour.  (4) 
The  Carnabii  fpread  over  the  remainder  of  the  north  of  Cornwall,  and  o%'er  all  the  fouth-weft,  as  far 
as  Falmouth  Haven.  (5)  And  the  Danmonii  poflefled,  originally,  the  reft  of  Somerfetftiire,  (6) 
the  reft  of  Cornwall,  and  all  Devonfhire.  But,  before  the  coming  of  the  Romans,  the  Danmonii 
had  fubdued  boih  the  Carnabii  and  Cimbri,  and  ufurped  their  dominions.  (7)" 

(1)  Richaxl,  p.  20  and  24. 

(•2j  irchalis  &  Aqus  Cali.li.  So  alfo  Ptolemy  place,  the  Durotriges,  not  fouth-wcft  as  he  is  generally  tranflated,  but 
to  the  fouth  and  wcl^  of  the  Belgx,  oLTfO  OVO'tA.My  KXl  [JiZrrHA,QflXS  J  the  Durotriges  being  to  the  fouth  of  the  Somer. 
fetrhire  Belgi,  and  to  the  iveft  of  the  Hampdiiie. 

(.3)  Uxella  urbs  is  given  to  the  Danmonii  by  Richard,  and  yet  is  given  to  the  Hcdui  by  the  Map,  in  exprefe  contri- 
diciion  to  to  the  account, 

(4)  Richard's  Map. 

(.5)  Ccnia  Urbs  &  Genius  FUivius,  given  to  the  Danmonii  by  Richard. 

(6)  Uxella  Urbs.      Richard. 

(7)  Ptokmy  and  Richard,  p.  20.  DanmoDiura  Promonwtium.  And  tJie  Danmonii  are  Jvy^/^cJ/iSio/,  or  the  mod 
wclkrly  trib»,  ic  the  former, 

line 


iS  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

line  of  the  Totonefian  Shore,  aiid  occupied  the  country  both  to  the  fonth-eafl  and  fbiith- 
■uelt,  whillt  they  had  the  Jugum  Ocrinum,  or  that  mountainous  tra£l  which  runs  through 
Devonlhire  and  Cornwall,  for  their  nortlitrn  boundaiy. 

That  theie  Aboriginal  lettlers  were  the  Danmonii,  I  have  little  doubt.  There  is  no 
evidence  to  the  contrary.  And  there  are  feveral  conilderations,  which,  as  they  occur  in 
their  proper  places,  will  gradually  confirm  our  minds  on  this  fubjeft.  Mr. Whit:iker,  how- 
ever, has  decided  it  otlierwiie  :  and  he  has  degraded  the  Danmonii  into  a  tribe  of  the 
Belgx.  But  it  is  very  plain  from  Richard,  that  the  Danmrnii  were  a  diftindl^  people  from 
the  Belgas.  Richard  mentions  the  Danmonii  as  the  molt  rei'peftable  of  all  the  Britifli 
nations.  He  calls  tliem,  in  one  ^\zce,  gens  omnium  'val'uiiffnna  -.  and,  defcribihg  the  dif- 
ferent lettlements  on  the  ifland,  lie  mentions  the  kingdom  of  the  Danmonii  as  a  moft 
foiverfiil  flate. 

Fiat  -T'ero  ah  extremn  Prima  provincial  or  a  initium  cujus  litfora  Gallia  objiciuntur.  Tres 
^ero  laud.atifTimos  validifTimofque  flatus  Cantianum  nempr,  Belgium,  et  Danmonium  cofn- 
fhctitur  hccc  Provincia.    (a) 

And  he  notices  thirty  battles  fought  with  the  combined  forces  of  the  Danmonii  and 
the  Belga;.  (A)  The  Danmonii  are  not  only  introduced,  in  Richai'd's  commentary,  as  a 
feparate  nation,  b>it  as  a  nation  of  much  greater  confequence  than  the  Belgse  of  the 
neighbouring  continent. 

Not  many  ages,  probably,  elapfed,  from  the  eftablifliment  of  the  Dan-monii,  in  the 
fouth  of  Devon,  before  the  Phenicians,  not  content  with  trading  voyages,  fixed  a  colony 
on  the  north  fide  of  the  Jugum  Ocrinua:,  a  country  as  yet  uninhabited,  and  to  which  they 
might  have  been  dire(^ed  by  the  fouthern  colonilts :  And  their  firlt  town,  perhaps,  near 
Hartland  or  Hertland  Point,  was  the  Tot:'«  of  Hercules,  their  God  of  navigation:  wiiillt 
the  Promontory  itfelf  was  called  Herculis  Promontorhimy  and  Lundy,  at  no  great  diftance, 
Heraclea  or  the  Ifland  of  Hercules. 

In  the  mlean  time,  the  Greeks,  perhaps,  were  planting  a  colony  at  the  Ramhead,  a 
promontoiy  on  the  fouthern  coaft  of  Danmonium,  beyond  which  the  lirft  oriental  tribes 
had  not,  as  yet,  extended  their  habitations.  This  Promontory  they  called  v.f>a  (j-sluirov : 
And  from  this  point  they  might  have  ftretched  their  fettlements  as  far  weft  as  they 
pleafed,  over  a  wild  unpeopled  country. 

But,  in  procefs  of  time,  thefe  fettlements  (to  the  fo\ith  at  leaft  of  the  Jugum  Ocrinum) 
were  thrown  into  great  diforder  by  the  Belga;  from  Gaul,  who  finally  feated  themfelves 
as  a  people  beyond  the  eaftern  limits,  and,  who,  at  the  arrival  of  tlie  Romans,  were  on 
a  friendly  footing  with  the  Danmonii,  or  were  induced  at  leaft  to  unite  their  forces 
with  the  Aboriginal  Britons,  in  oppofition  to  a  common  enemy. 

Nor  were  the  Phenician  colonies  to  the  north  of  t\\ejugmn  Ocrinum,  undifturbed  :  The 
Cimbri  invaded  Danmonium  on  the  north-eaft,  and  eftabliftied  themfelves  there :  And 
the  Carnabii  fettled  on  the  north-weft. 

After  all  thefe  agitations,  it  appears,  that  the  whole  of  Devon  and  Cornwall,  both  the 
fouth  and  north  fide  oi'  t}i\tjug2(m  Ocrinum,  were  reduced  under  the  lubjedtion  of  the  Dan- 
monii, before  the  arrival  of  the  Romans. 

After  thus  determining  the  Danmonian  fettlements,  it  is  natural  to  enquire  into  the 
different  ranks  of  the  fettlers,  and  to  mark  the  diftribution  of  properly^  according  to 
thofe  ranks. 

The  firft  bufinefs  of  the  leader  of  a  colony,  muft  have  been  to  affign  eftates  to  hi« 
chiefs :  And  the  afllgnment  (r)  of  eftates  to  each  of  the  chiefs,  would  occafion  the  coun- 
try to  be  divided  into  lejfer  or  gnater  diftrifts  ;  and  De'vonflire  to  be  parcelled  into  dif- 
trifts  coevally  with  the  firft  plantation  of  it. 

Thefe  leffer  diflriSfs  were  fimilar  to  our  prefent  tovjnfhips ,  and  the  aftual  origin  of  them. 
And  the  manfion  of  the  chief  and  his  ten:mts,  and  the  neighbouring  cotes  and  adjacent 
lands,  would  form  ong  di'vifion  or  to^wnflnp.  The  manfion  of  another  chief  (with  it* 
appendages)  formed  a y^co^.^  to wnftiip.  And  thefe  little  divifions  muft  have  commenced 
with  the  firft  colony. 

And,  perhaps,  the  adjoining  downs  and  extenfive  woods,  were  affigned  in  common, 
to  a  determinate  number  of  to-vj?iflnps. 

(tf)  Richard,  p.  17.  {b)  p.  21. 

(c)  It  is  evident  that  the  Britons  had  fixed  property  }  fince  tlxe  Druids,  we  are  toH,  decided  aH 
<lifpute$  about  the  limits  of  lands. 

For 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  17 

For  the  more  regular  adminiftration  of  juftice,  a  number  of  thefe  townfhips  were  foon 
combined  into  one  canfred.  Such  divifions  we  aftually  find  in  ancient  Ireland,  whither 
the  Danmoaii  had  emigrated  j  and  in  Wales  alfo,  where,  among  the  earlielt  inftitutes  of 
thai  countiy,  they  are  referred  to  the  primitive  Britons,  (a)  Formed  fome  time  before 
tlie  towns  were  conftrufted,  the  cantreds  would  borrow  their  appellation  from  the  moft 
remarkable  obiefts  of  nature  within  them. 

{b)  The  foUih  of  Danmonium,  including  all  that  traCl  of  land,  that  lies  fouth  of  the 
Jugum  Ocrhiiim,  from  the  borders  of  Dorfet  to  the  Land's-End  or  the  Ocrlnum  Promon- 
torium,  was,  probably,  divided  into  four  cantreds ;  the  flrji  cantred  extending  from 
Dorfet  to  the  river  Ifca — the  fecond,  from  Ifca  to  the  river  Durius — the  third,  front 
Durius  to  the  river  Tamara — x\\t  fourth,  from  Tamara  to  the  Ocrinum  Promontorium. 

The  north  of  Danmonium,  including  all  that  traft  of  land  which  lies  north  of  the 
Jugum  Ocrinum,  from  the  Uxella  to  the  eall,  to  the  Anti^eflaum  Protnontorium  to  the  weft, 
naturally  divides  itfelf  into  two  cantreds — the  north-eaft  cantred,  from  Uxella  to  Cam- 
bala,  inhabited  by  the  Cimbri ;  aiid  the  weftern  cantred  from  Cambala  to  the  Anti-uef- 
taum  Promcntorium,  inhabited  by  the  Carnabii. 

Danmonium,  then,  was  divided  into  fix  cantreds.  But  what  communication  originally 
fubfilled  between  the  two  cantreds  north  of  the  Jugmn  Ocrinum,  and  the  four  cantreds 
fouth  of  this  mountainous  chain,  or  in  what  manner  or  in  what  period  the  cantreds,  on 
either  {v},&  of  the  hills,  were  fo  formed  as  to  coalefce  into  one  kingdom,  it  may  be  difKcult 
to  conjefture.  That  they  were  all  united  under  one  kingdom,  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Romans,  is  an  undoubted  fact.  Mr.  Whitaker  informs  us,  that  when  the  Romans  in- 
vaded tlie  illand,  the  Dannionii  had  conquered  the  Ciinbri  and  Carnabii,  and  ufurped 
their  do.ninions.  Certain  it  is,  that,  at  this  crifis,  the  names  of  Cimbri  and  Carnabii  were 
funk  in  the  name  of  Danmonii,  and  that  all  Devonlhire  and  Cornwall,  in  fact,  was  de- 
nominated Danmonium. 

As  a  certain  number  oi  clanjhips,  therefore,  were  united  to  form  a  cantred;  fo  feveral 
cantreds  (fix  in  Danmonium)  were  united  to  form  a  kingdom.  Perhaps,  the  principal 
clanfhip  in  the  cantred  of  Ilea,  was  fituated  on  the  banks  of  the  Exe ;  and  the  manfion 
of  the  (f)  Chief,  was  that  faftnefs  or  foitrefs  in  the  woods,  which  gave  rife  to  the  city  of 
Exeter.  In  the  cantred  of  Durius,  Totnes,  poiTibly,  had  its  origin — in  that  of  Tamara, 
Tamerton  or  Plymouth — in  that  of  Cenius,  Tregony.  And,  whilft,  among  the  Cimbri, 
we  ma)'  obferve  the  clanfhip  of  Herton  or  the  town  of  Hercules,  we  may  trace,  perhaps, 
Redruth,  or  the  town  of  the  Druids,  in  the  country  of  the  Carnabii.  Thus  was  property 
diftributed  in  Danmonium.  And  it  was,  conditionally,  diftributed  by  the  Sovereign 
among  it  his  fubjefts. 

After  the  Sovereign,  ranked  the  Chiefs,  holding  their  lands  immediately  from  the 
crown  :  And,  as  the  immediate  tenants  of  the  crov/n,  they  were  obliged,  by  their  tenures, 
to  certain  ferviccs  to  it.  They  were  obliged  to  wait  on  the  King  at  dinner,  for  inftance  ; 
or  to  follow  him  to  the  war.  They  were  bound  to  conftruft  or  repau-  the  royal  caftles. 
They  were  afiTefled  with  rent  either  in  money  or  kind.  Under  the  referve  of  thefe  fer- 
vices  and  payments,  the  chiefs  had  a  full  property  m  their  lands ;  and  could  tranfmit 
them  to  their  heirs. 

Inferior  to  the  chiefs,  the  great  body  of  the  people  were  divided  into  two  clafies — 
the  free,  and  the  complete  villains.  The  former  might  relinquifii  their  lands,  or  remain 
upon  them,  at  their  own  difcretion  :  The  latter  were  the  property  of  their  lord,  and  fale- 
able  as  a  part  of  the  eft  .te.  They  were  both  fubject,  like  the  chiefs,  to  attendance  in 
war,  and  to  payments,  in  money  or  returns  in  kind. 

The  tenures  of  lands  were  anciently  the  fame  in  Wales.  The  difcovery  of  the  fame 
holdings  even  fo  early  as  the  tenth  centuiy  and  in  the  laws  of  Kowel  Dha — holdings,  not 
formed  by  that  legislator  of  Wales,  but  referred  by  Kowel  himfelf  to  prior  inftitutes, 
and  afcribed  to  the  earlieft  Britons — veiy  ftrikingly  proves  their  great  antiquity.  And 
the  general  refemblance  of  the  tenures  among  the  natives  of  Wales,  the  Aborigines  of 
Ireland  and  the  Highlanders  of  Scotland,  as  well  as  the  original  tribes  of  the  Britons, 
demoiiftrates  the  whole  fyftem  of  polity  to  have  been  derived  from  their  common  and 

{a)  The  cantred,  though  including  a  larger  diftrlct,  gave  rife  to  the  hundred, 
{b)  See  Richard's  Map. 

(c)  This  Chif,  probably,  was  the  Danmonian  Sovereign— his /srrrt/s,  a  caftle  of  great  ftrensth— 
and  his  toiurif  very  foon,  a  I.irge  city. 
Vol.  I.  C  immediate 


i8  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   ok    DEVONSHIRE. 

immedbte  parents — the  Emigrators  from  Alia.  And  it  demonftrates  this  whole  fyft^m, 
unknown  to  tlic  neighbouring  continental  tribes,  to  have  been  introduced  into  the  ifland 
by  the  primitive  colonilb  of  Danmonium. 

Such  ((ays  Mr.  Whitaker)  v>-as  the  curious  and  original  frame  of  the  Britifli  tenures — 
tenures  whfch  feem  to  have  been  derived  from  a  very  ancient  origin,  and  to  have  exilled 
coeval  with  the  firft  plantations  of  the  illand.  And  they  were,  plainly,  I  think,  the  joint 
refult  of  a  colonizing  and  a  jnilitaiy  fpirit. 

If  we  look  to  the  eaftern  nations  for  fuch  tenures,  we  fhall  find,  in  Genefis,  a  pifture, 
of  tribes  or  clans,  and  chiefs  or  petty  princes  :  And  we  fhall  difcover  the  fame  holdings 
at  the  prefent  day,  on  the  plains  of  Arabia.  From  the  difference  of  a  continental  or 
illand-fituation,  as  well  as  the  climate  and  other  circumftances,  the  rtature  of  property 
was  fomewhat  different  in  Arabia  -nd  Danmonium.  The  Patriarchs,  in  elder  days,  and 
the  Arabian  Princes,  at  the  preJent  hour,  are  defcribed  as  traverfing  extenfive  trafts  of 
countiy,  and  as  removing  with  their  dependents  and  their  cattle,  from  one  fpot  where 
the  palturage  was  exhauiled,  to  another  which  had  been  hitherto  unoccupied  :  And  the 
Danmonii  .are  commonly  reprefented  as  a  wandering  people,  and  as  feeding  their  flocks 
at  one  tiiTie  in  Devonfliire  and  at  another  in  Hampiliire.  But  this,  from  the  nature  of 
the  illand,  and  the  populouftiefs  of  it,  was  impradicable.  Their  origin,  however,  is 
lufiiciently  pointed  out  by  their  dilpolition  to  wander,  which  they  diicovered  as  far  as_ 
their  (ituation  would  permit  them.  Within  the  circle  of  his  territories,  the  Britifli  chief 
was,  undoubtedly,  accuftomed  to  flaift  the  fcene  ;  fometimes  attending  his  flocks  on  the 
cultivated  hills — lomctimes  in  the  fertile  vallies,  and  fometimes  driving  them  to  the 
downs,  at  a  confiderable  dillance.  Even  in  the  time  of  Casllir,  the  Aborigines  who  had 
fled  into  the  centre  of  the  illand,  were  diicriminated  by  this  roving  genius  from  the  tribes 
of  Gaul :  To  Cjcfar's  own  obfervation  this  formed  a  ffriking  part  of  their  charafter  :  Nor 
could  the  airinefs  of  an  Afiatic  temper,  lb  oppolite  to  the  European  m.ind,  that  loves  its 
accuftomed  habitation,  be  more  clearly  manifelled  than  by  their  breaking  up  their  efta- 
blifliments,  as  they  repeatedly  did,  at  the  appearance  of  every  invader.  Though,  genj 
eniniv.vi  ^oalidijjima,  and  well  able  to  repel  an  enemy,  yet  io  flight  was  their  attachment 
to  their  native  foil,  that  they  abandoned  it  on  the  firft  attack,  and  either  rulhed  from 
the  fea-coafts  into  the  central  woods  of  Britain,  and  there  began  to  build  frefli  fortrelles 
and  fix  new  clans,  or  rapidly  embarked  for  other  iilands,  and  formed  colonies  on  the 
Irifli  coaft,  or  where-evecfortune  might  direft  their  fliips.  In  the  mean  time,  they  refem- 
bled  the  Arafcs,  ulfo,  as  nearly  as  their  fituation  would  allow,  in  the  diftincticns  of  rank 
or  ftation. 

But  let  us  difinifs,  for  the  prefent,  the  idea  of  thefe  refemblances  ;  and  pafs  to  a  confi- 
deration  of  tlie  Britilh  government. 

The  inftitution  of  to--c:nJlnps  and  of  cantrcds  was  particularly  fubfervient  to  the  admini- 
ftration  of  civil  juftice.  Eveiy  ton.fjtjJhip  and  cardred  had  a  diftinft  court  of  juftice.  The 
controverfies  which  could  not  be  decided  in  the  court  of  the  tovjnjhip,  was  cari'ied  to  the 
court  of  the  cantrcd :  and  the  controverfies  not  deterniined  in  the  cantred,  was  cai'ried  to 
a  court  fuferior  to  all.  The  government  of  a  townlhip  was  that  of  a  large  fomily  ;  where 
we  mi'-ht  obferve  a  fpecies  of  patriarchal  policy,  originating  from  natural  relationfliip 
and  ne'ceflaiy  fubordination.  And  from  a  combination  of  diftinct  families,  clanfliips,  or 
townfliips,  would  refult  the  government  of  a  cantred. 

In  the  fame  manner  from  a  combination  of  cantreds  would  refult  the  government  of 
a  kingdom.  The  regal  government,  however,  of  Danmonium,  was  not  fnnply  monar- 
chicaf :  The  Druids,  undoubtedly,  partici]nited  with  the  Britilh  fovereign,  both  in  the 
civil  and  miiitar)'  government.  The  Druids  were  the  principal  directors  of  the  ftate. 
They  had  the  fame  influence  in  war  as  in  peace  ;  whilft,  attending  the  military  expedi- 
tions, they  animated  the  troops  to  viftoiy  by  their  difplays  of  future  glory,  oi-  ijiterpofed 
between  armies  ready  to  engage,  and  prevented  the  bloody  conflift  by  the  dignity  of 
their  perfons,  and  fubiimity  of  their  doftrines,  and  by  the  terrors  of  enchantment  and 
prophecy. 

i  he  Kin?Ts  had  no  power  even  to  punifli  their  foldiers.    "  To  inflid:  punifhment  (fays 

Tacitus)  belongs  to  the  Druids:     And  this  they  affeft  to  do,   in  obedience  to  their 

Deities,  who  are  more  peculiarly  prelent,  as  they  tell  us,    with  their  armies  in  war." 

T!ie  Britilh  fovercigns  had  little  power,  either  in  framing  or  execiiiing  the  laws.     The 

^laws  amon<7  the  anaent  Britons  were  not  confidcred  as  the  decrees  of  their  princes,  but 

"■a^  the  commands  of  their  gods.     And  the  Dioiids  were  fuppofed  to  be  tlie  only  perfoni 

to 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  19 

to  whom  the  gods  coinmunicated  a  knowledge  of  their  will.  It  was  confequeatly  the 
part  of  the  Druids,  to  enaft  the  laws  as  well  as  to  explain  them  to  the  people.  Th  s 
verierable  order,  then,  decided  by  their  own  laws,  all  public  and  private  controverfies, 
xrA  pronounced  judgment  in  criminal  cafes.  lie  who  refufed  to  fubmit  to  their  deci- 
lion,  was  excluded  from  their  iUcrifices,  and  lliunned  as  a  polluted  perfon. 

With  refpecl  to  the  feats  of  judicature  in  the  clanihips,  cantreds,  or  kingdom  of 
Danmoniuni,  it  is  very  remarkable  that  we  have  many  correfponding  accounts  proving 
the  Britilli  courts  to  have  been  geneially  held  in  the  open  air  and  on  high  places.  The 
Brltilh  courts  of  judicature  v.ere  fometimes  cdled  GorfedJau  -.  And  thefe  Gorfeddau  were 
convened  in  the  open  air,  on  the  liimmit  or  flope  of  a  hill,  near  a  pillar  or  pillars  of 
ftone,  or  within  lome  appointed  circle  of  ftones,  or  (bme  appropriated  amphitheatre  of 
ftcnes  and  tarf.  In  the  regions  of  Caledonia  and  Ireland,  they  were  held  for  ages  after 
this  period,  on  the  fide  of  a  hill  ;  and  the  judges  \vere  feated  on  green  banks  of  earth. 
And  tliere  is  an  ancient  law  in  Wales,  that  relpedls  this  ufage.  The  judge  is  there 
directed,  with  a  view  to  his  perfonal  accommodation,  to  fit  with  his  back  to  the  lun  or 
wind.  It  is  not  improbable,  that  many  of  thefe  fituations,  which  were  fixed  on  for 
enacting  or  adminillering  the  laws,  or  for  other  fclemn  occafions  of  the  legiflature,  had 
been  previoufly  conl'ecrated  to  religion.  Where  could  legal  aflemblies  be  held  more 
properly  than  in  places  cojifecrated  to  religion,  {a)  already  reverenced  equally  by  the 
higher  and  inferior  orders,  and  therefore  likely  to  inlluence  the  governors  as  well  as 
the  governed  ?  When  any  place  had  been  diitingaiihed  by  th.e  rites  of  worlliip,  and  was 
conudered  \vith  a  kind  of  lacred  dread,  as  the  habitation  of  the  Deitj',  the  laws  enafted 
cr  enforced  on  the  fpct,  would  be  thought  to  partake  of  its  fiicrednels.  The  monument 
of  Giigal  was  firll  dignified  by  religious  rites :  And  it  afterwards  became  the  leat  of  juf- 
tice  and  national  councils,  {h)  There  are  numberlels  fpots  in  Danmonium,  flill  marked 
by  ftone  pillars  or  circles,  cr  amphitheatres,  wh.ich,  in  tliofe  early  days,  were,  probably, 
let  apart  for  the  purpofes  of  government.  The  fingle  Hone  pillar  often  occurs  in  iacred 
writ.  Samuel  made  Bethel  and  Giigal  the  a//;/;;;?/ leats  of  judgement,  (r)  At  Giigal,  Saul 
was  confirmed  king,  and  the  allegiance  of  hi-:  people  renewed  with  facrifices  and  great 
feftal  joy.  {d)  At  Mizpah,  Jephtha  was  folemniy  invelled  with  the  government  of 
Gilead.  (f)'  And  the  general  council  againft  Benjamin  feems  to  have  been  held  at  this 
place,  (f)  At  the  Acne  of  Shechem,  erected  by  Jolhua,  Abimelech  was  made  king — {g) 
Adonijah  by  the  ftone  of  Zoheleth.  (o)  Jehoafh  (i)  was  crowned  king  ftanding  by  a  pillar. 
And  Jofiah  (/:)  ftood  by  a  pillar,  when  he  was  making  a  folernn  covenant  with  God. 
From  thefe  inftances,  it  fliould  leern,  that  pillars  of  ftone  were  fet  up  to  diitmguifli  places 
of  extraordinary  convention  :  But  it  is  impofiible  to  fpeak  with  precilion  on  this  point. 
Dr.  Borlafe  is,  perhaps,  too  fanciful  in  dif criminating  his  courts  of  council  and  of 
judicature.  His  "  ftones  to  Irand  by,"  and  "  ftones  to  ftand  upon,"  and  "  his  ftones  to 
fit  on,"'  are  erefted,  probably,  on  a  very  fandy  foundation.  (/)  To  attribute  paiticular 
pillars,  or  ftone  circles,  to  particular  ufes,  muft  be  a  matter  of  the  moft  hazardous  con- 
jecture. At  the  fiune  time  I  ailow,  that  the  cuftom  of  "  fitting  on  ftones  in  council," 
v.'as  very  ancient  among  the  eaftern  nations.  And  in  one  of  the  fculptures  on  the  fiiield 
of  Achilles,  the  elders  are  convened  in  council,  fitting  on  ftone  feats,  within  the  facred 
circle  :  Oi  ot  yipo'J^!ss 

Borlafe  proceedi  to  obferve,  "  that  circular  monuments  had  ftill  other  ufes,  befides 
thofe  of  religion  and  law."  Where  thefe  Itone-benches  are  lemicircular,  and  diltinguiftied 
by  feats  and  benchts  of  like  mattj  i.di,  there  is  no  doubt  but  they  were  defigned  to  ex- 

(tf)  See  Borlafe,  p.  191,  192,  103.  (/•)  i  Sam.  li.  14.  XV.  31,  33.  (c)  i  Sam.  VII.  16.  (d) 
1  Sam.  XL  14.  {e)  Judges,  XI.'ii.  CfJ  Judges,  XX.  1.3.  [g)  Jolhua,  XXIV.  26.  {h) 
1  Kings,- 1,  r.     (/)  aKings,  XI.  14.     {k")   2  Kings,  XXIII.  3. 

(/)  The  name  of  Dr.  Borlafe  hat'i,  frequendy,  occurred  :  And  I  have,  fometimes,  been  under  the 
recefTity  of  differting  from  this  plcafine;  antiquarian,  though  in  matters  of  mere  fpeculaticn.  On 
the  whole,  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  I'.is  Antiquities,  for  affiftance  in  my  prefent  refearch  :  They  are 
replete  with  originil  invcili<ration.  If  i  h.->ve,  any  where,  drcpi  ed  a  word  that  may  appear  difre- 
fpeftful  t.  Dr.  Borlafe,  it  Ihould  be  referred  to  the  particular  point  in  di''cuffien.  I  revere  his  me- 
mory !  well  affured,  that  he  may  ju.Uy  be  ranked  among  tl.ofe  few,  whofe  learning  was  unaffeded, 
whoffc  manners  were  ingenuous,  and  wliofe  religion  was  fincere. 

{m)  Kemer's  Iliad,  p.  jS,  v.  504. 

Vol.  I.  C  a  hibit 


20  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

hJbit  plav«.     There  is  a  theatre  of  this  kind  in  Anglefea,  refembling  a  horle-fhoe,  inclu- 
ding an  arc;i  of  twenty  paces  diameter,  vith  its  opening  to  the  welt,  called  Bryn-gnvyny 
or  Supreme  Coitrt.     It  lies  in  a  place  called  Trer-Drciv,  or  Druiil's  Toiv/i ;  whence  it 
may  be  reafonably  conjeftured  that  this  kind  of  ftrufture  was  uied  by  the  Druids.     It  is 
Ibmewhat  lingular  that  Borlafe  Ihould  have  almoil  appropriated  this  theatre  to  plays  and 
fpoits;  when  the  name  itlclf  points  out  a  place  of  judicature.     He  chole  to  call  it  a 
theatre;  and  he  was  afterwards  milled  by  the  Ibund.     But  the  people  ufually  alTembled 
(fays  he)  to  hear  plays  afted,  and  to  lee  the  fports  and  games,  in  amphitheatres  of  ftone, 
not  broken  as  the  cirques  of  llone-ereft.     The  Do£lor,  then,  notices  :m  amphitheatre  of 
the  fort,  "  the  moll  remarkable  monument  of  the  kind  which  he  had  yet  leen" — the 
amphitheatre  of  St.  Juft,  in  Cornwall,  which,   if  not  appropriated  to  judici.;!  matters, 
was  chiefly  defigned,  perhaps,  for  this  puqiole.     And  lb,  likewife,  was  the  amphitheatre 
of  Piran ;  both  which  Ihall  be  delcribed  in  their  proper  places.     We  have  great  reafon, 
therefore,  to  conclude,  that  many  of  the  more  ilriking  monuments  inDanmonium,  which 
we  have  at  this  day  an  opportunity  of  obferving,  were,  generally  I'peaking,  erefted  as 
judiciid  feats ;  though  we  liave  not  iuflicient  data  to  determine  what  kinds  of  pillaj's,  cir- 
cles, or  amphitheatres,  were  intended  for  ordinary  meetings,  or  more  lolemnallemblies — 
or  for  the  courts  of  a  clan,  of  a  cantred,  or  of  a  kingdom.     In  each  of  the  Jix  cantreds 
which  I  have  enumerated,  we  may  pollibly  find  fuch  veftiges  of  the  Britilh  government. 
In  the  cantred  of  Ilea  there  are  leveral  ftone  pillars  and  circles  of  ftone,  which  are  evi- 
dently druidical.     Perhaps,  in  this  cantred,  there  are  few  druidical  liones  more  remark- 
able than  Xsvo  rocks  in  the  parifh  of  Widworthy,  or  that  point  more  clearly  to  the  judi- 
cial aflemblies  of  the  Britons.     One  of  thefe  Hones  is  a  large  flint  rock,  lituated  at  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  parilh  of  Widworthy.     It  is  known  by  the  name  of  the  Grey- 
ftone.     It  is  five  feet  in  height,  and  four  in  width  and  depth.    And,  at  the  ibutliem  ex- 
tremity of  the  psrifli,  is  another  (lone  cf  nearly  the  fame  dimenllons.     In  die  cantred  of 
Durius,  there  feem  to  be  a  much  greater  number  of  druidical  remains,  than  in  the  eaft- 
em  part  of  Danmonium.     On  Hameldov.n  in  particular,  in  the  parilh  of  Manaton,  is  a 
large  circle  of  ftone,  which  is  called  Grimfpound.     This  circular  line  of  ftone  inclofes 
an  a.rea  of  near  three  acres.     And,  on  tl^.e  are:i,   are  many  imaU  circles,  conlilting  of 
fmgle  ftones  ereft.     That  Grimfpound  was  the  Icat  of  judicature  for  the  cantred  of  Du- 
rius,  is  no  improbable  fuppolltion.     For  the  cantred  of  Tamara,   we  may  fix,  I  think, 
the  feat  of  judicature  at  Crockerntorr,  on  Dartmoor :  here,  indeed,  it  feems  already  fixed 
at  oui"  hands.     And  I  have  fcarce  doubt  but  the  ftannary  parliaments  at  this  place  were 
fi  continuation  even  to  our  own  times  of  the  old  Britilh  courts,  before  the  times  of  Julius 
Csefar.     Thofe  ftannarj'  parliaments  were  fimilar  in  every  point  of  refembiance  to  the  old 
Britilh  courts.     Crockern-tcrr,  from  it?  fituatlon  in  the  middle  of  Dartmoor  Foreft,  is 
undoubtedly  a  very  ftrange  place  for  holding  a  meeting  of  any  kind.     Expofed  as  it  is  to 
all  tlie  feverities  of  the  weather,  and  diltant  as  it  always  hath  been  within  our  times,  or 
within  the  memory  of  man,   from  every  human  hal:>itation,  we  might  v>cll  be  lurprifed 
that  it  ftiould  have  been  cholen,  for  tlie  fpot  on  wiiich  our  laws  were  to  be   framed j 
unlefs  fome  peculiar  fancrit)-  had  been  attached  to  it  in  confequence  of  its  appropriation 
to  legal  or  judicial  purpofes,  from  the  earliell  antiquity.     Belides,  there  is  no  other  in- 
flance  that  I  recolleft,  within  our  own  times,  of  fuch  a  court,  in  fo  expofed  and  lb  remote 
a  place.  (^)     On  this  Torr,  not  long  fince,  was  the  warden's  or  prefident's  chair,  feats 
for  the  iurors,  a  high  corner  ftone  for  the  ciyer  of  the  court,  and  a  table,  all  rudely 
Jiewn  out  of  the  rough   moorftone  of  the  Torr,  together  with  a  cavern,  which  for  the 
convenience  of  our  modern  courts,    was  ufed  in  thefe  latter  ages  as  a  repofitor}'^  for 
wine.     Notwithftanding  this  provifion,  indeed,  Crockern-torr  was  too  wild  and  dreary  a 
place,  for  our  legillators  of  the  laft  generations  ;  who,  after  opening  their  commilfion,  and 
fwearing  the  jurors  on  this  fpot,  merely  to  keep  up  the  old  formalities,  ufually  adjourned 
the  court  to  one  of  the  ftannary  towns.     From  the  nature  of  this  fpot,  open,  wild,  and 
remf^te,  from  the  rocks  that  were  the  benches,  and  from  the  modes  of  proceeding,  all  fb 
like  the  ancient  courts,  and  ib  unlike  the  modern  ;   I  judge  Crockern-torr  to  have  been 
the  court  of  a  cantred,  or  its  place  of  convention,  for  the  purpofes  of  the  legillature. 
And  this  cantred,    according  to  my  divifon  of  Danmonium,  mult  have  been  Tamara. 
For  the  Cantred  of  Cenius,    the  Britilh  courts  might  poifibiy  have  been  held,    near 

{a)  Crockem-torre  was  juft  fuch  a  Ceat  of  judicature   as   the  Pfaltnift  alludes  to—"  Let  their 
judge f  be  overthrown  in  Jiory  />/aus."      Pfalm  141. 

that 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  21 

that  aftoniftiiiig  ftone  monument  which  Borlafe  defcribes  in  the  pari(h  of  Conftantine.  (a) 
From  its  vait  magnitude  and  poiition,  and  from  the  fcenery  around  it,  I  Ihould  conceive 
it  to  be  well  calculated  to  iniprefs  awe  upon  the  multitude  :  and  its  extenfive  ftiadow 
might  havediifufed  a  more  foiemn  air  over  chiefs  afTembled  in  council,  or  druids  dii'pen- 
fmg  juilice.  In  the  cantred  of  the  Cimbri,  we  may  fix  the  judgment  feat,  amid  It  that 
wild  recefs,  the  Valley  of  ft  ones ;  where  thoie  learned  antiquarians,  Lyttelton  and  Milks, 
had  imagined  a  variety  of  druidical  monuments,  (i)  "  I  was  pleafed,  (fays  Lytulton 
in  a  lettej-  to  Milies)  with  the  rude  romantic  fcenes  between  Comb-martin  and  Ll..^on, 
and  particularly  with  what  you  apprehend  to  be  a  druid  gorfeddau."^  This  gorfediiuu  nes 
oppofite  to  a  karn  of  rocks,  which  is  called  the  Cheeje-^wring.  In  the  cantred  of  the 
Carnabii,  Karnbre-hill,  will,  doubtlefs,  exhibit  3.  gorfeddau :  for,  on  this  hill,  we  find 
■almoft  every  fpecies  of  druid  monuments,  rocks,  balcns,  circles,  ftones-ereft,  remains  of 
cromlechs,  karns,  a  grove  of  oaks,  a  cave,  and  a  religious  enclofure.  On  Karnbre-hiU, 
Borlafe  has  defcribed  a  rock,  which  he  fuppoled  to  be  "  one  of  the  gorfeddau,  or  places 
of  elevation,  whence  the  Druids  pronounced  their  decrees.  In  fome  places,  indeed,  thefe 
gorieddau  were  made  of  earth  :  but  it  was  plainly  unneceflary  to  raife  hillocks  of  earth, 
where  lb  many  ftately  rocks  might  contribute  full  as  well  to  give  proper  dignity  to  the 
feat  of  judgment. "  (r)  "  The  town  about  half-a-mile  acrols  the  brook  which  runs  at 
the  bottom  of  Kanibre-hill,  was  anciently  called  Red-drenv,  or  more  properly  Ryddrenju^ 
the  Druid' s-Ford,  or  Crcjlng  cf  ike  Brook"' — fays  Borlafe  :  and  the  Doftor  refers  for  hi» 
authority,  to  a  grant  of  the  fairs  there,  to  the  Baffets  of  Tehidy,  in  the  time  of  Henry 
VII.  {J)  In  the  mean  time,  Fryce  afierts,  {e)  that  <'  Redruth — Dredruith — fignifies  the 
Druid's  To-itT?."  And  cf  this  he  is  aflured,  "  from  its  vicinitj'  to  Karn-brea,  that  cele- 
brated ftation  of  Druidical  fupenlition  ;  where  are  to  be  feen  a  multifarious  collection  of 
monumental  diuidifm.  'Redruth — Rjd-drjth,  is,  alfo,  the  Red  Ford.  But  that  cannot  be 
the  name  of  the  town,  as  there  are  deeds  in  the  polTeiriou  of  Sir  Francis  Ballet,  Bart, 
where  it  is  denoijiinated  Dredruith.  This  name  is  io  very  ancient,  as  to  be  given  to  the 
fituation  of  the  town,  bifore  this  kingdom  v.t.s  divided  into  pariihes ;  as  old  writiuo-s  ex- 
prefs  thus  :  In  the  parijh  of  Uny  juxtw Dredruith.  In  fine,  though  the  parifh  is  now,  and 
has  been  immemoriaily  called  Redruth,  its  real  dedicatory  name  is  St.  Uuy :  and,  therefore 
if  I  millake  not,  the  tovv-n  claims  an  evident  antiquity,  prior  to  any  other  in  the  county." 
At  ail  events,  there  is  no  doubt  but  Redruth,  in  the  vicinity  of  Karnbre,  was  one  of  the 
chief  towns  of  the  Druids  of  Danmonium.  Aud  at  Plan-an-guare,  in  F^edriith,  there 
were  very  lately  the  remains  of  an  ainphitheatre.  (f)  But  the  amphitheatres  of  St.  Juft 
and  St.  Piran,  bear  the  moft  evident  marks  of  the  judicial  court,  in  this  cantred  of  the 
Carnabii.  The  amphitheatre  of  St.  Juft  (in  the  hundred  of  Penwith)  fituated  near  the 
church,  is  fomewhat  disfigured  by  the  injudicious  repairs  of  late  years  ;  but,  by  the  re- 
mains, it  feems  to  have  been  a  v.ork  of  riiore  thin  ufual  labour  and  correftnefs.  It  was 
an  exaft  circle  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-fix  feet  diaineter.  The  perpendicular  height 
of  tiie  bank,  from  tlie  area  within,  is  now  feven  feet :  But  the  height  from  the  bottom  of 
the  ditch  without,  at  prelent  ten  feet,  was  fonneriy  more.  The  feats  coniift  of  fix  fteps 
fourteen  inches  wide,  and  one  foot  high,  v.ith  one  on  the  top  of  all,  where  the  rampart 
is  about  feven  feet  wide.  There  is  a  larger  circular  work,  of  higher  mound,  folfed  on 
the  outfide,  and  very  regular  in  the  amphitheatre,  in  the  parilh  of  Piran-fand.  The  ai-ea 
of  the  amphitheatre,  perfecfly  level,  is  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  diameter. 
The  benches,  feven  in  number,  of  turf,  rife  eight  feet  from  the  {g)  area.  That  plays 
were  afted  in  thefe  amphitheatres,  I  have  not  a  doubt.  But  I  concur  with  Mr.  Whitaker 
in  thinking,  that  thele  circles  were  Originally  deugned  for  Britifli  courts  of  judicature. 
As  we  fmd  that  the  Druids  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  legifiature,  perhaps  we  may 
place  a  Druid  in  each  cantred,  as  the  fupreme  judge ;  whilil:  the  chiefs  of  the  clanfhips 

(d)  See  Borlafe's  Antiquities,  page   i66. 

{b)  1  have  a  few  fcraps  in  tl.e  hand-A  ritins  both  of  Lyttelton  and  AllUes,  relating  to  the  Valley  of 
Stones ;  but  nothing  f-^t  is  factory  can  be  cdlsdlsd  froni  them. 

(f)  Borlafe's  .■Antiquities,  p.  114. 

\d)  Antiquities  of  Cornwall,  p.  116. 

(<")  Fryce's  Vocabulary. 

(f)  See  Pryce'^  Vocabulary. 

(^)  For  a  more  particular  defcription  pf  tliis  cvrioui  v.-^rk-  I  refer  my  readers  toBcrlafe's  Natural 
Hi  fiery,  p.  298. 

exerciied 


22  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

exercifed  a  fubordinate  juriidiftion  and  prcJided  in  tlieir  interior  courts.  But  fince  there 
was  an  appeal  from  theie  inferior  courts  to  the  druidical,  fo,  probably,  there  was  an  ap- 
peal from  tl^  cantreds  to  one  court  in  Danmonium  luperior  to  all  :  And  this  mull  have 
been  the  regal  or  archidruidical  court.  "  As  there  was  an  ArckdruiU  in  Gaul  (fays  Bor- 
lal'e)  to  prelide  in  all  cafes  of  difficulty,  importance,  and  (oiemnity  ;  lb,  doubtlefs,  in 
Britain — zvkence  the  Gauls  had  iheir  pLm — there  was  lodged  the  fame  or  the  like  authority, 
in  one,  oi"  more  luperior  Druids."  But  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  there  was  one  lupremc 
Druid  in  every  kingdom — iince  in  moll  inllances,  the  different  kingdoms  or  Hates  of  Bri- 
tain, were  independent  on  each  ether;  and,  Iince  the  Druids  had  the  principal  manage- 
ment in  eveiy  Hate,  both  as  legillators  and  judges.  According  to  Citlar,  and  other 
ancient  authors,  there  was  an  Archdruid — to  whom  appeals  v/ere  made  from  the  tribu- 
nals of  the  inferior  judges,  and  who  always  held  an  annual  court  at  a  fixed  time,  in  fome 
central  fituation.  The  chief  refideuce  of  the  Archdiuid  of  Gaul,  was  at  Z);vw;ir,  in  the 
Pais  Chartrain,  in  the  very  centre  of  Gaul.  Here,  on  a  confecrated  fpot,  he  held  his 
court.  Of  the  Britifli  Archdruid's  relidence,  Mr.  Rowland  thinks  he  has  difcovered  fome 
veiliges  in  the  ifle  of  Anglefea.  But  if  we  confine  ourieives  within  the  limits  of  Devon- 
fiiire  and  Cornwall,  and  fix  an  archidruidical  feat  in  the  weil-,  I  Ihould  imagine  that 
Drewfteington  would  be  the  moil  eligible  fpot.  The  very  name  oi  DreT'.Jfcington  inilantly 
determines  its  original  appropriation  to  the  Druids.  And  that  this  («)  "  tO'i>:?i  of  the 
Druids  upon  the  ri-vcr  Teipi,'"  was  the  favomite  relbrt  of  the  Druids,  is  evident  from  a 
great  variety  of  druidical  remains  which  the  molt  incmious  fpeclator  muil  neceJlarily 
obferve,  in  the  neigh lx)urhood  of  the  to\^■n,  and  wh.ich  will  hereafter  be  defcribed.  The 
only  remaining  Cromlech  in  Devonfnire,  marks  thi^  Ipot  as  more  peculiarly  the  feat  of 
the  Druids  -.  And  the  Archdruid,  perhaps ,  could  not  have  chofen  a  more  convenient 
place  for  his  annual  afiembly.   {b) 

Such,  then,  are  my  conjedures  on  the  fubjecl  of  orur  DaraTionian  government.  Who 
our  governors  were,  it  would  be  vain  to  enquire.  It  would  be  fruitlefs  to  ieajxh  for  the 
names  of  the  lubordinate  Chieftains,  or  of  the  cantred  Druids;  when  the  chronicled  names 
of  our  Kings  are,  I  conceive,  for  the  moft  part,  fabricated.  Who  our  Kings  were,  the 
Britilh  chronicles  pretend  to  tell  us  :  yet  if  we  look  into  remote  antiquity,  with  a  view  of 
diicovering  the  iiaccefllon  of  our  wellern  Princes,  we  fliall  find,  perhaps,  not  a  fingle  re- 
cord that  merits  our  notice,  in  the  light  of  an  hillorical  document. 

That  Brute,  commencing  his  reign  over  the  Britons  in  the  year  of  the  world  two  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  aiiigned  thefe  wellern  territories  to  his  valorous  com- 
panion Corinsus,  as  the  reward  of  an  ailonifliing  victory  over  the  giant  Gogmagog,  whom 
the  latter  precipitated  down  the  Plymouth  clilf,  is  not  literally  the  language  of  truth. 
Bat  the  founder  of  the  wellern  Kingdom,  had  numerous  fucceilbrs  to  fiiare  his  honors: 
3nd,  if,  when  fails  are  wanting,  we  are  willing  to  leize  on  fable  to  fupply  the  deficiencj"^, 
we  may  contemplate  for  more  than  a  thoufand  years,  the  imaginary  Princes  of  Danmo- 

(<r)  Dru-Jlcn-ton^  fays  Borlafe,  Dru'J-jiiKcs-tcwn  :  But  if  our  author  mean  Dreivjic'igntcn  in  Devon- 
fhire,  he  is  certainly  miftaken  in  his  etymalogy.  In  his  obfen'aticns,  however,  on  tlie  druidical  tra- 
ces to  be  found  in  the  names  of  towns,  houfes,  hills,  and  brooks,  he  is,  (mqiieOicnabJy,  rij-ht.  "  A\\ 
uamto  that  have  Drudau  Dru,  Drwwydd,  Drud'wr.,  D^fivyddon,  Der'.u,  and  Dar,  may  be  reckoned  of 
Druid  origin.;!  :  Thui  Bod-dr  den,  Dn/id^s-kcuje,  Rh'i(d-dtu':tb,  ndilum  Druidarum -vadum — Drus- 
TENTON,  Dr  uid's-stones-Town — Gion-dcrv^.,  tht  Dr-uid's-ditur^s — Tin-dir'zv,   Druid' s-h'dl.^'' 

(i)  "  From  the  central  fituation  of  the  Cionnlech,  (fays  Chappie)  we  migiit  infer  tiie  fitnefs  of 
the  place  for  a  d.'uidical  aflTizes  ;  fuppofing  that  the  prefent  limits  of  f  his  county  were,  then  aho, 
nearly  the  boundaries  of  a  dillin£i  province  of  druidical  government  in  tlii..  weitern  part  of  Britain. 
For  we  learn  from  Cacfar,  (i)  that  the  Drui'is  of  Gaul  met  annually  in  a  place  confecrated  and  appro- 
pri;:t:d  to  t!iat  pur;  ofe,  on  the  confines  of  Can:u;um  (now  Chaitra)  tiien  taken  to  be  the  middle  of 
all  Gaul;  where  people  at  variance  refcrted  from  all  quarters  to  have  their  controvt;rfics  and  l.-.w-fuits 
f.niily  decided  by  thufe  .-tbfolute  judges,  fiom  whofe  fentence  lay  no  appeal.  Frcm  this,  andCsfar's 
Ibrther  teftimony,  concerning  the  origin  of  this  difcipline,  v.-hich  he  tells  us  v/as  fuj-pofed  to  have 
been  firfl  ii-'ftitutcd  in  I'ritain,  and  from  thence  transferred  to  Caul — .vhcnce,  even  then,  perfons 
deftrous  oi  being  more  pcrfeftJy  inftruflcd  in  it,  took  a  voyage  hither  to  be  better  informed  concern- 
ing it  we  may  reafonahly  conclude,  that  the  Druids,  in  their  diftribution  of  juflice,  as  well  htre  as 
in  Gaul,  took  ;ill  pofTzble  care  to  fhorten  the  journies  of  the  people  obliged  to  attend  their  courts  of 
judicature."     Chappie's  Defcription  and  Exegefis  of  the  Urewfleington  Cromlech. 

(i;  Be  BcUo  Callico.  Lib.  6. 

nhiiTi. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  aj 

tiium.  Yet  the  eye  wanders  with  diflat  sf:i6lion  and  difguft  over  a  long  and  dreary  traSt 
of  time,  which  feems  diverfified  only  by  chimeras.  Contenting  niyfelf,  therefore,  with 
a  few  obfervations,  on  the  reputed  Rulers  of  the  weft,  before  the  time  of  Csfar,  I  fliall 
quickly  haften  to  more  interefting  enquiries.  The  annalift  informs  us,  with  all  the 
gravity  of  truth,  that  about  the  time  of  the  prophet  Samuel,  Guendolen  the  daughter 
of  our  hero,  oijoyed  Danmonium  as  her  paternal  inheritance.  The  moft  remarkable  of 
her  fuccellors  were  Heninus,  who  married  a  daughter  of  King  Lear,  and  his  fon 
Cunedagius,  who  filled  the  throne  at  the  time  of  the  building  of  Rome;  and  the  two 
brothers,  Belinus  and  Brennus,  to  the  firft  of  whom  were  allotted  Loegria,  Cambria  or 
Danmonium — to  the  fecond,  ail  from  the  river  Humber  to  Cathnefs  in  Scotland.  To 
Belinus  and  Brennus  is  afcribed  the  demolition  of  Rome  ;  and,  what  is  rather  remtu-kable 
with  refpeft  to  the  facking  that  great  city,  there  is  only  the  difference  of  twenty  years 
between  the  Britiih  Chronology  and  the  Roman  Fafti.  But  to  memorize  the  liSitious 
aftions  of  thefe  Princes  would  be  tedious.  It  was  in  the  year  three  thoufand  nine  hun- 
dred and  forty-fix,  (a)  that  Britain;  invaded  by  Julius  Cjefar,  began  to  experiejice  the 
Ihock  of  the  Roman  arms  :  and  Theom.antiuj,  the  lecond  fon  of  the  famous  Britifti  King 
Caflibelan,  was,  at  this  momenl;,  Duke  of  Banmonium. 


n»«\efU.,f  JJ.^1  II,  ■  .rn-r^ 


SECTION     III. 

yiEJf  of  the  RELIGION  of  DANMONIUM  in  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Druidifm  the  Religion  of  Danmcniu?n — Its  great  Antiquity  in  this  Ijland — e-i'ide7itly  dei-ived 
frovi  the  Eaji,  not  the  Continent  of  Europe. — II.  Its  Dodlrines — fecret — popular, — III.  Its 
Rites  and  Ceremonies. — IV.  Its  Temples. — V.  Parallel  betnjueen  the  Danmonians  and  the 
Perfians — proving  the  Eajiern  Origin  of  the  Danmonians — (.Q7itrary  Opinions  examined. — 
VI.  The  corrupt  Religion  of  the  Phenicians — of  the  Greeks — of  the  Tribes  frotn  the  neigh- 
bouring Continent. 

THE  earlier  inhabitants  of  the  ifland,  in  proportion  as  they  were  known  to  the  nations 
around  them,  became,  more  and  more,  the  objecls  of  curioilty.  The  various 
Cnguiarities,  tliat  fo  ftrongly  marked  the  Danmonians,  mull  have  ilood  forth  prominent 
and  bold,  in  contraft  with  the  general  European  feature.  Among  thei'e  national  peculi- 
arities, the  religion  of  Danmonium  was  aUo  new  :  And  fo  llriking  was  its  character  of 
fenftity  and  wifdom,  that  it  attracted  the  attention  of  the  more  learned  and  inquifitive 
among  the  Gauls,  who  were  before  unacquainted  with  the  aboriginal  iflanders.  The 
Celtic  tribes  from  the  Continent  of  Europe,  could  give  Csefar  very  little  information  re- 
fpefting  the  Britons,  except  what  related  to  their  religion,  which  had  been  recently  in- 
troduced into  Gaul  from  Britain  ;  but  which  was  totally  unknown  in  Germany,  and 
other  parts  of  the  Continent.  This  religion,  therefore,  differed  widely  from  the  religioa 
of  Europe  :  We  Ihall  find  that  it  bore  a  ilrong  reiemblance  to  the  reiigicn  of  Afia.  It 
was  Drnidiirn :  And,  whether  we  confider  its  antiquity  in  Britain,  its  fecret  or  popular 
doftrines,  its  rites  and  ceremonies,  or  its  temples,  we  lh;dl,  on  every  view  of  the  fubjecl, 
perceive  its  eaftern  origin. 

Mr.  Carte  {b)  afl'erts,  it  feems,  from  Cae&r,  "  that  the  Druidical  religion  was  from  the 
moll  ancient  times,  the  common  religion  of  Britain,  Gaul,  and  Germany  ;  though  Bri- 
tain was  moft  Ikilled  in  it :"  Crefar,  however,  fays  the  very  reverfe.  Caefy.r  informs  us, 
that  the  Druid  religion  was  but  very  lately  introduced  into  Gaul,  from  Britain  ;  and,- 
that  in  his  time,  the  Gauls  ftill  went  to  Britain  for  inftru6lion.  Ke  exprefsly  fays,  that 
the  Germans  liad  no  Druids.  So  that  C^far's  report  amounts  to  this — that  Druidifm 
•was  the  religion  of  Britain  long  before  it  was  known  in  Gaul,  and  was  eftabliflied  ia 

{a)  Richard,  p.  co. 

{h)  III  juftice  to  Mr.  Carte,  I  fliould  obferve,  that  fetting  afide  the  Pons  afmlrus  of  antiquities,  his 
hirtory  is  well  written.  The  antiquarian  part  of  his  vv-ork,  is,  doubtlefs,  full  of  error.  But  his  mlf— 
takes  and  inconfulencies  on  fo  obfcure  a  fubjeft,  would  have  rnerited  a  very  flight  cenfure,  liad  in- 
genuity thrown  over  his  Hypothefis  an  air  of  fpecioufnefs.  I  do  not  blame  his  decifive  manner :  For, 
aniidft  the  darto^ft  ambiguities,  a  wri;er,  who  is  animated  by  his  fubject,  cannot  always  avoid  deci- 
tivenefb. 

Gaul 


Z4  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    or    DEVONSHIRE. 

Gaul  long  before  it  was  known  in  Germany.  It  feems  to  have  been  communicated  16 
Germany  about  the  time  of  Tiberius.  We  fee,  then,  contrary  to  Carte's  opinion,  that 
Britain  did  not  receive  its  religion  from  the  Continent  of  Europe  :  Whence  we  may 
infer,  that  it  was  not  originally  peopled  from  hence  ;  but  that,  probably,  it  was  peopled 
long  before  the  wellern  parts  of  Europe  were  inhabited.  Dr.  Borlafe  himfelf  admits  the 
evidence  of  Casfar,  («)  to  prove  the  leniority  of  druidifm  in  Britain.  "  I  mull  obferve 
(fays  our  author,  with  great  propriety  and  good  fenle)  that  none  of  the  ancient  authors 
deny  what  Csfar  advances  :  Strabo  and  Ponponius  Mela,  in  their  oblervations  on  the 
Druids,  copy  Crefar  as  their  bell  guide :    Tacitus  does  not  contradift  him  in  any  one 

Eoint :  (/>)  and,  tofilence  our  wonder  how  the  Britons  fliould  give  an  order  of  prieft- 
ood  to  their  neareil  neighbours  tlie  Gauls,  Pliny,  who  is  more  circumllantial  in  defcri- 
bing  the  rites  of  Druidifm  than  any  other  writer,  aflerts,  that  the  Britons  were  Co  ex- 
ceflively  devoted  to  all  the  myfteries  of  magic,  that  they  might  feem  to  have  taught  even 
the  Perfians  themfelves  this  art.  (c)  There  is  another  circumftance  worthy  of  notice  in 
what  Csfar  fays — which  is,  that  the  inllitution  of  the  Druido  was  maintained  in  greater 
purity  and  ftriftnefs  in  Britain  than  in  Gaul ;  and  that,  when  the  Gauls  were  at  a  lofs 
m  any  point  relating  to  this  diicipline,  their  cuilom  was  to  go  over  to  Britain  for  their 
better  information.  "  Does  not  this  (fays  Borlafe,  cautious  as  he  is  in  advancing  any 
thino-  new  or  unpopular)  in  a  great  meafure  confirm  our  ideas  that  the  Gauls  were 
tauo-ht  this  difcipline  by  the  Britons ;  and  that  the  Britons,  whenever  any  dithculty  oc- 
curred, had  recourfe  to  the  firft  fountain  for  inftru6lion  ?  The  Druid  PrieJJhood,  then, 
w^s  more  ancient  in  Brit.-»in  than  either  in  Gaul  or  in  Germany.  Though  we  might 
vainly  labour  to  afcertain  the  exaft  time  of  its  appearance,  yet  we  are  allured  that  it  had 
been  eftablifhed  in  Britain  many  centuries  before  the  arrival  of  Csfar.  There  were 
Druids  in  this  ifland,  remarkable  for  their  antiquity,  long  before  the  times  of  Pythagoras, 
•who  lived  fix  hundred  years  before  Chrill.  It  is  aflerted  by  an  ancient  writer,  that  the 
Druids  were  venerated  for  their  philofophy  more  than  a  thoufand  years  before  Pythagoras 
had  promulged  his  doftrines  in  Italy,  {d)  And  Ai-illotle  and  Clemens  Alexandrinus 
concur  in  aflerting  the  high  antiquity  of  the  Britifli  prielthood.  But,  fetting  thefe  autho- 
rities afide,  that  fingle  paffage  in  Cjefar,  where  a  popular  idea  is  faid  to  have  been  founded 
on  a  tradition  from  the  Druids,  (?)  fufiiciently  fpeaks  to  their  antiquity.  It  is  a  reference, 
in  Csefar's  time,  to  the  Druids  of  the  earlier  ages.  In  the  mean  time,  the  great  refem- 
blance  which  the  Druids  bore  to  the  Perfian  Magi,  Gymnofophifts,  and  Brachmans,  is 
a  ftrong  argument  in  favor  of  their  antiquity.  And  Borlafe  is  near  the  point  of  aflert- 
ing, that  fuch  a  confomiity  between  ifianders  in  the  weft,  and  the  moil  remote  nations  in 
the  eall,  "  who  do  not  appear  (fays  he)  to  have  had  the  leall  communication  fince  the 
difperfion,"  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  fuppofing  the  Britons  to  be  a  colony  from  the. 
caft,  at  the  very  time  of  the  difperfion.     But  enough  on  this  topic. 

Let  us  confider  the  Druid  religion.  And  firft  for  its  doftrines.  It  appears,  that  the 
Britifli  Druids,  like  the  Indian  Gymnofophifts,  or  the  Perfian  Magi,  had  two  lets  of  doc- 
trines  the  firft,  for  the  initiated — the  fecond,  for  the  people.     That  there  is   one  GOD, 

the  creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  was  a  fecret  doctrine  of  the  Brachmans.  And  the  nature 
and  perfeS'ion  of  the  Deity  were  among  the  Druldical  Arcana,  (f)     Pomponius  Mela 

confirms 

(j)"  DiU'ipVini  in  Britannia  reperta  atque  in  Galliam  tranjlata  eJJ'e,  ex'iflimatur.  Druidifm  was  found 
in  Britain  and  from  thence  tranflated  into  Gaul. 

{b)  The  author  of  L<J  iJf%.  de  Gauhis,  ingenuoufly  confefTes,  that  the  Gauls  had  their  religion 
from  Britain.     Vol.  I.  p.  13. 

(f)  Druidarum  d'ifdplina  in  ncjlra  Britannia  reperta,  atque  inde  in  Galliam  tranjlata  ejfe  exijlimatur, 
Unde  Plinius  eleganter  declamat  lib.  30.  his  verbis :  "  Sed  quid  ego  hac  commemorem  in  arte  cceanunt 


(d)    Pherecydes,   Pythagora  preceptor,  primus  puhlica-vit  Druidarum  argumenta,   pro  anma  immor- 

talitate.      HoflFman's  Y>\Oi.  in  verb Ccctcrum  cuiUbet  vel  modice  perfpicaci  patebit,  Druidas  philo- 

hphatos  plui  milk  annos  antejuam  eruditio  Pytbagora  innotuiffet  in  Italia.  Steph.  Forcatulus  de  Gall. 
Imp.  et  Philof.  p.  41. 

(f)  Csefar  L.  6.  p    127. 

(f)  Selden  (on  Drayton's  Polyolbion)  obferves  :  "  Although  you  may  truly  fay  with  Origen,  that. 
kefor«  our  Saviour's  time,  Britein  ackno\Yledged  not  one  true  God  j  yet  it  comes  as  near  to  what  they 

<houkf 


The   BRITISH   PERIOD.  25 

confirms  this  account  of  Cxfar :  Druidas  terra  mundique  viagmtudinem  et  formam,  motus 
call  e*  f.dcrum,  et  quid  Dii  velint  fcire  fe  profiteri.  And  Lucan  :  Soils  nojfe  Deos,  et  cali 
numlna  njobu.  That  thele  ideas  were  derived  From  {a)  Noah,  I  have  Icarcely  a  doubt : 
They  were  brought  into  this  ifland  by  the  immediate  del'cendants  of  thole  holy  men,  to 
who  11  only  the  fecrets  of  Noah  were  communicated,  and  who,  as  confecrated  to  religion, 
were  thus  entrulled  with  the  fecrets  of  heaven.  The  imperilhable  nature  of  the  foul  was 
another  doftrine  of  the  Druids,  which  in  its  genuine  purity,  perhaps,  was  incommuni- 
cable to  the  vulgar.  But  the  Ibul's  immortality  connefted  with  many  fenfitive  ideas,  was 
generally  preached  to  the  people.  It  was  with  unvarying  firmneis  that  the  Druids  alferted 
the  immortality  of  the  Ibul.  And  the  univerfal  influence  of  this  doftrine  on  the  conduft, 
excited  the  furprize  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  It  was  this,  which  infpired  the  foldier 
with  courage  in  the  day  of  battle  ;  which  animated  the  (lave  to  die  with  his  maiter,  and 
the  wife  to  ftiare  the  fates  of  her  hufband ;  which  urged  the  old  and  the  feeble  to  preci- 
pitate themfelves  from  rocks,  and  the  victim  to  become  a  willing  facrifice.  And  hence, 
the  creditor  poftponed  his  debts  till  the  next  life  ;  and  the  merchant  threw  letters  for  his 
correlpondents  into  the  funeral  fires,  to  be  thence  remitted  into  the  world  of  fpirits  !  (i) 
The  Druids  believed  alfo,  that  the  foul,  having  left  one  earthly  habitation,  entered 
into  another — that  from  one  body  decayed  and  turned  to  clay,  it  palfed  into  another  frelh 
and  lively,  and  iit  to  perfonn  all  the  functions  of  animal  life.  This  was  the  doftrine  of 
tranfmigration,  maintained  in  common  by  the  Druids  and  the  Braclimans.  (^)  Sir  William 
Jones  defcribes  a  great  empire — the  empire  of  Iran ;  the  religion  of  which  was  Sabian  j 
fo  called  from  the  word  Saba,  that  figniiies  a  hoft,  or  more  properly  the  hoj\  of  heaiien, 
in  the  worfhip  of  which  the  Sabian  ritual  conlilfed.  Mahabeli  was  the  lirit  monarch  of 
Iran.  His  religion  he  v/as  faid  to  have  received  from  the  Creator,  as  well  as  the  orders 
eftablflied  throughout  his  monarchy — religious,  militar}'',  mercantile,  and  fervile.  Thefe 
regulations  Avei^e  laid  to  be  written  in  the  language  of  the  Gods.  (^)  The  tenets  of  this 
religion  were,  that  tliere  was  but  one  God,  pure  and  good — that  the  foul  was  immortal, 
and  an  emanation  from  the  Deity — that  it  was  for  a  leafon  feparated  from  the  fupreme 
Being,  and  confined  to  the  earth  to  inhabit  human  bodies,  but  would  return  to  the  Divine 
Elfence  again.  The  purer  leftaries  of  this  religion  maintained,  tliat  the  worfliip  of  ftre 
was  merely  popular ;  and  that  they  appeared  onl)'  to  venerate  that  fun  upon  whofe  ex- 
alted orb  they  fixed  their  eyes,  whilft  they  really  humbled  theml'elves  before  the  fupreme 
God.  They  were  afliduous  obfervers  of  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  luminai-ies,  and 
ellablifhed  aitincial  cycles,  with  diilinft  names,  to  indicate  the  periods,    in  which  the 

/hould  have  done,  or  rather  nearer  than  moft  of  others,  either  Greek  or  Reman — as  Csfar,  Strabo, 
Lucan,  and  other  authors  might  convince  us.  For,  although  Apollo,  Mars,  and  Mercury,  were  wor- 
fhipped  among  the  -vulgar  Gauls ;  yet  it  appears  that  the  Druids  invocation  was  to  one  all  healing 
and  all  faving  Power  I" 

in)  A  Chaldean  infcripticn  was  difcovered  fome  centuries  ago,  in  Sicily,  on  a  block  of  white  mar- 
ble. A  Bifhop  of  Lucera,  who  wrote  on  the  fubjedt,  affcrts  :  Tliat  the  city  of  Palermo  was  founded 
by  the  Chaldeans,  in  the  earlieit  ages  of  the  v/orld.  The  literal  tranflation  of  this  infcriprion  is  as 
follows  :  "  During  the  time  that  Ifaac,  the  fon  of  Abraham,  reigned  in  the  valley  of  Damafcus,  and 
Efau,  the  fon  of  Ifaac,  in  Idu.nea,  a  great  multitude  of  Hebrews,  accompanied  by  many  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Damafcus,  and  many  Phenicians,  coming  into  this  triangular  ifland,  took  up  their  habitation 
in  this  moft  beautiful  pl,;ce,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Panormus."  The  Bil^iop  tranflates 
another  Chaldean  infcripticn,  which  is  over  one  of  the  old  gates  of  tlie  city.  This  is  extremely  cu- 
rious— "  There  is  no  other  God  but  one  God.  There  is  no  other  pazver  but  this  Jame  God.  There  is  r.o 
tther  conqueror  but  this  fame  God  ivhom  ive  adore.  The  commander  of  this  tower  is  Saphu,  die  fon 
of  Eliphas,  the  fon  of  Kfau,  brother  of  Jacob,  fon  of  Ifaac,  fon  of  Abraham.  The  name  of  the 
tower  is  Beyeh  ;  and  the  name  of  the  neighbouring  tower  is  Pharat." 

[h)  See  Bcrlafe's  Antiquities,  p.  98. 

(;:)  That  the  Druids  believed  in  the  immortality  of  the  foul,  and  in  its  tranfmigration  from  one 
body  to  another,  is  not  only  affirmed  by  Caefar,  as  we  have  feen,  but  by  many  ancient  writers. 
AfOx^ius  rxs  4/y^«s-  A£7«5-;— fays  Strabo.     And  Lucan : 

Vobis  autoribus,  umbra 
Non  tacitas  erebi  fedes^  ditij que  profundi 
Pallida  regna  petunt — regit  idem  fpiritus  artus 
Orhe  alio  lor.ga.,  canitisfi  cognita,  vita. 

See  alfo  Val.  Maximus  and  Diodorus. 

(</)  All  the  fculptures  of  PcrfepoUs  are  purely  Sabian. 

Vol.  I.  D  foed 


z6  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

fixed  ftars  appeared  to  revolve.     They  are  alfo  laid  to  have  knowa  the  fccret  poivers  of 
fiature,  and  thence  to  have  acquired  the  reputation  of  magicians.     Seds  of  thefe  ftill 
remain  in  India,  called  Sufi,  clad   in   woollen  garments  or  mantles.     In  ancient  times, 
every  priellhood   among  the   eallera  nations  had  feveral  fpecies  of  facred  charafters, 
which  they  ufedin  their  hicro-giammatic  \vritings,  to  render  their  religion  more  myf- 
terious;   vvhiJli  they  prelerved  its  written  do6Vrines  and  precepts  in  luch  charailers  as 
none  but  their  own  order  could  underltand.     Thele  facred  chiuailers  have  been  often 
noticed  by  Antiquarians,   under  tlie  denomination  of  Ogham,  {a)     The  Ogham  cha- 
rafters  were  ufed  by  the  priefts  of  India  and  Perfia,  the  Egyptians  and  Pheniciaiis,  and 
the  Druids  of  the  Britifh  illes.    Sir  William  Jones  tells  us,  that  the  writhigs  at  Perfepolis 
bear  a  Itrong  referablance  to  the  Ogham — that  the  unknown  infcriptions  in  the  palace  of 
Jemfchid  are  in  the  fame  chai-afters,  and  are,  probably,  facerdotal  and  I'ecnit,  or  a  facer- 
tiotal  cypher  ;  and  that  the  word  Ogham  is  Sanfcrit,  and  means  "  myfxer'ious  knowledge ."" 
That  limilar  infcriptions  are  to  be  found  in  Ireland,  is  abundantly  proved  by  Colonel 
Vallancey.     But,  the  molt  extraordinaiT  circumibmce  is,  that  the  word  Ogkain  ftill  con- 
tinues among  the  people  of  Indoilan,  Perfia,  and  Ireland,  with  the  fame  facred  meaning 
annexed  to  it!  The  Druids  not  onlj'  concealed,  in  this  manner,  their  fecret  tenets  from 
the  knowledge  of  the  people,  but  they  often  inllrufted  their  pupils  by  fymbolical  reprefen- 
tations,  with  the  fame  view  of  involving  their  doftrines  in  myftery,  and  rendering  them 
too  dork  for  the  vulgar  apprehenfion.    This  mode  of  inftrviClion  was  truly  oriental.   And 
to  prove  that  the  Druids  were  even  refined  in  their  allegories,  the  pifture  of  Hercules 
Ogmius,  as  defcribed  by  Lucian,  iieed  only  be  produced,  {h")    There  is  another  evidence 
of  the  fymbolical  leaa-ning  of  tlve  Druids  in  Bajfo  Relie'vc;  diicovered,  fome  time  fince,_ 
over  the  door  of  the  temple  of  Montmorilion,  in  Poiftou.     It  is  a  lively  reprefentation  of 
tlie  feveral  ft;iges  of  life,  at  wliich  the  Druid  dilciples  were  gradtially  admitted  into  tiie 
invftcries  of  the  Druid  iyllem.  (<•) 

From  tlwfe  myfteries  of  the  Druids,  let  us  pafs  to  their  />o/>«/<Tr  doftrines.  Amidft  the  fub- 
iimer  tenets  of  tliis  priefthood,  we  have  every  where  apparent  proofs  of  their  polytheilm. 
Aiid  the  grofhieli  of  their  religious  ideas,  as  repreiented  by  Ibme  writers,  is  very  inconfift- 
ent  with  that  divine  philofopby,  which  we  have  confidered  as  a  pait  of  their  charafter. 
Thele,  howex^er,  were  popular  divinities,  which  tlie  Driiids  oftenfibly  worfliipped,  and  - 
popular  notions  which  they  oftenfibly  adopted,  in  conformity  with  the  prejudices  of  the 
valg.ar  mind.  Tli£  Druids  w'eli  knevr,  that  the  common  people  were  no  philofophers.  There 
is  i-ealbn,  alio,  to  think  that  a  great  part  of  the  idolatries  I  am  about  to  mention,  were 
not  originally  faainoiied  by  the  Druids,  but  after*'ards  introduced  by  the  Phenician  co- 
lonv.  But  it  would  be  impoflible  to  (ay,  how  far  the  primitive  Druids  acconmiodated 
the'mfelves  to  vulgar  fuperltition,  or  to  feparate  their  exterior  doctrines  and  ceremonie.? 
from  tie  fable>  and  abfurd  rites  of  fubfequeot  times.  Ca;lar  thus  recounts  the  popular 
divinities.  "  Deum  maxuAe  Mcrcurium  coluni.  Hujus  funt plurittiajlmidaaa.  Hunc  om- 
nium artium  tK-vsntorem  feruxt ;  hunc  •viarutx.  atque  itinertim  diicem  ;  hioic  ad  qua-Jlus  pecu- 
tii^  meriolui-^fque  habere  'vhn  maximam  arhitraniur.  Poji  himc,  ApoUinem,  et  Mortem,  et 
"Jo-z'em  et  Misierfa^.i.    De  hh  eandxmfere  quam  riUqua  gcntes  haheat  opimo/iem — ApoUinem 

{a)  In  ancient  Pank  Hoghara  fignif.es  wiidom. 

{^h)  Hevcuks  -as  there  exhibited,  and  known  by  his  ufiiaJ  ornaments ;  but  Inftead  of  tlie  gigantic 
hoM  im<5  fierce  countenaiice  given  Mm  by  ethers,  tlx:  Druids  painted  liirn,  toLiician's  ^reat  furprize, 
a?<.>!,  b.Ud,  decrepjd  :  and  to  his  tong^je  were  fartened  ckiisis  of  goW  and  amber,  which  drew  alotig 
a  muJdtude  of  perfons,  •  faofe  ears  appeared  to  he  fixed  to  the  other  end  of  thofe  chains.  And  one 
of  ihe  Druid  philofophers  tluit  explains  tlte  pifture  to  L«cian.  "  We  do  not  agree  with  the  Greeks 
in  m^ing  Mercurj-  the  God  of  eloquence-  According  to  our  fyftem,  this  honor  is  due  only  to  Hcr- 
Ciile.,  becaufe  he  fo  £ar  fmpafles  Mercury  in  power.  We  paint  him  advanced  in  age,  becaufe  elo- 
qiier.ce  exerts  not  ail  hermoft  trimated  powers  bat  in  die  mouths  of  tlie  aged.  The  link  there  is, 
bet  •  ee  the  tongue  of  the  eloquent  an<i  the  ears  of  the  aged,  juftifies  the  icft  of  the  rep'-efentation. 
By  onderftancing  his  hiftor)-  in  this  Cen.'e,  we  ncitlwr  difhonour Hercules,  nor  depart  from  the  truth : 
for^JTS  hold  it  indjfpuubly  true,  that  he  fucceeded  in  all  his  noble  enterprizcs,  captivated  every 
hea't,  and  fuWued  every  brutal  paflTiofi,  txx  by  the  ftrength  of  Us  arms  (for  that  was  impofTiblc) 
but  by  the  powers  of  wiCdona,  and  by  the  fweetncfs  of  his  jjerfuafion/'     See  Borlafe's  Antiquities 

(c)  There  is  a  pJate  of  it  in  Montfaucon'j  Supplement,  torn,  t,  p.  iii.  and  in  th^  Rdigion  de 
Caules,  voL  z,  p.  144-   Aad  Borlafe  has  very  ii\liiiQon\j  explained  it — See  liis  Antiquities,  p.  ici» 


The    BIRTISH    PERIOD.  27 

morbos  depellere — Mi/iervam  operum  aique  arttficiorum  i?iitia  tranfdere — Jonjem  impenum 
ceelejiium  tenere — Martem  bella  regere.""  («)     The  origin  of  the  Britilh  Gods,  hac  been 
generally  attributed  to  the  Phenicians  or  Canaanites.     The  God  whom  the  Romans 
compared  to  Jupiter,  was  worihipped  by  the  name  of  T'aram  or  Taramis,  and  of  Tbor — 
both  which  names  fignify  the  Thtaiderer,  in  Phenician.     The  God  whom  the  Romans 
compared  to  Mercury,  was  worfliipped  by  the  name  of  Teutates  or  Tbeutates,  or  Taautos 
or  Thotb — the  Phenician  name  for  the  fon  of  Mi/or.     The   God   whom  the   Romans 
compared  to  Mms,    was  worfhipped  under  the  name  of  Hizzus  or  Hefus,  and  alfo  by 
the  name  or  Cbam  or  Camu  or  Camo — called  by  the  Romans  Catmdus.     He  was,  alfo, 
called  Hues — which  is  another  name  for  Baccbus  or  Bar-chus — that  is,  the  fon  of  Chus, 
The  Greeks  adopted  the  Hues  in  the  rites  or  orgies  of  Bacchus.     It  is  of  Phenician 
origin,  and  fignifies  Fire  !     And,  as  fuch,  Baccbus  was  worfliipped  '.     The  God  whom 
the   Romans  compared  to  Apollo  was  worfhipped  by  the  name  of  Bel-ain,  or,   as  the 
Romans  called  him,  Belinus.     He  was,  alfo,  called  Bel-atre-cadrus,  from  the  Phenician, 
Bel-atur-cares,  fignifying,  Sol  Affyria  Deus.     The  God  whom  the  Romans  compared  to 
Diana,  was  Belifama  :  It  is  a  Phenician  word,  fignifying,  the  Queen  of  bea--ven.  The  God 
whom  the  Romans  compared  to  Minerva,  was  woi-fliipped  by  the  name  of  Ofica,  On-ca, 
or  Oiiuana ;  the  Phenician  word  for  that  Goddefs.     The  God  whom  the  Romans  com- 
pared to  Venus,  was  worihipped  by  the  name  oi  Andrafte — the  Aftarte  of  the  Phenicians. 
The  other  Gods  of  the  Britons  were  the  Bluto,  Proferpitie,  Ceres,  znd^Hercules  of  the  Romans, 
Of  thefe  divinities  the  Druids  had  fymbolical  reprefentations  :  A  cube  was  the  fymbol  of 
Mercuiy,  and  the  (b)  oak  of  Jupiter.    But  it  would  be  a  vain  attempt  to  enumerate  their 
Gods.    In  the  eye  of  the  vulgar  they  deified  every  objeft  around  them.  They  worfliipped 
the  fpirits  of  the  mountains,  the  vallies,  and  the  rivers.     Every  rock  and  every  fpring 
were  either  the  inftruments  or  the  objefts  of  adoration.    The  moon-light  vallies  of  Dan- 
monium  were  filled  with  the  faeiy  people :  And  its  numerous  rivers  were  the  refort  of 
Genii.     The  fiction  of  Faeries  is  iuppofed  to  have  been  brought,  with  other  fantaftic  ex- 
titivagancies  of  a  like  nature,  from  the  eaftern  nations,  whilll  the  European  chriiHans 
were  engaged  in  the  holy  war  :   Such,  at  leaft,  is  the  notion  of  an  ingenious  writer,  who 
thus  exprelfes  hinifelf :  "  Nor  were  the  monftrous  embellifluTients  of  enchantments,  the 
invwition  of  romancers  ;  but  formed  upon  eaitern  tales,  brought  thence  by  travellers 
from  their  crufades  and  pilgrimages,  which,  indeed,  have  a  call  peculiar  to  the  wild  ima- 
gination of  the  eaftern  people."'  (c)    That  Faeries,  in  pai'ticular,  came  from  the  eaft,  we 
are  affured  by  that  learned  orientaliil,  M.  Herbelot,  who  tells  us,  that  the  Perfians  called 
the  Faeries  Peri,  and  the  Arabs  Getues;  that,  according  to  the  eaftern  fiction,  there  is  a 
certain  country  inViabited  by  Faeries  called  GinniflipM,  which  anfwers  to  our  Faery-land y 
and  that  the  ancient  romances  of  Perfia  are  full  of  Peri  or  Faeries. (i^)  Mr.Warton,(^)  in 
bib  obfervations  onSpenl'er'sFaery-qvteen,  is  decided  in  his  opinion,  that  the  Faeries  came 
from  the  eaft  -.  But  he  jullly  remarks,  that  they  were  introduced  into  this  country  long 
before  the  period  of  the  Crufades.   The  race  of  Faeries,  he  informs  us,  were  eftabliihed  in 
Europe,  in  very  early  times.     But  "  jwt  uni'v  erf  ally,""  fays  Mr.  Warton.     The  Faeries 
were  confined  to  the  north  of  Europe — to  the  ultima  Tbule — to  the  Britijh  ijles — to  the 
di'vijis  orbe Britannis.    They  were  unknown,  at  this  remote  sera,  to  the  Gauls  or  the  Ger- 
mans.    And  they  were  probably  familiar  to  the  vallies  of  Scotland  and  Danmonium, 
when  Gaul  and  Germany  were  yet  unpeopled  either  by  real  or  imaginary  beings.     The 
belief,  indeed,  of  fuch  invifible  agents  ailigned  to  different  parts  of  nature,  prevails,  at 
this  very  day,  in  Scotland  and  in  Devonihire  and  Cornwall — regularly  tranfmitted  from 
the  remotelt  antiquity  to  the  prefent  times,  and  totally  unconnecled  with  the  ipurious 
romance  of  the  Cruiader  or  the  Pilgrim.     Hence  thofe  fuperftitious  notions,  now  exifling 
■in  our  weftern  villages.,  where  (f)  the  Spriggian  are  Itill  believed  to  delude  benighted 

[a)  Lib.  6. 

{b)  Their  afFeded  veneration  for  the  oak,  and  even  the  oak-mlHetoe,  is  well  known. 

{c)  Supplement  to  the  Tranf.  Pref.  to  Jarvis's  Don  Quixotte. 

{d)  Herbelot  tells  us,  that  there  is  an  .^.rabian  book,  eiuitled  "  Pieces  de  corail  amaffces  fur  ce  jui 
regarde  le  dnnes,  cu  Genles."     But,  above  all,  fee  the  Arabian  Nigiit's  Entertainments. 

{e)  See  Warton's  Obfcrvat.  on  Spenftr,  vol.  i.  p.  64. 

(f)  "  That  the  Druids  v  orfiiipped  rocks,  flones,  and  fountains,  and  iinagined  them  inhabited, 
and  actuated  by  dl-vive  intelligences  fa  I'^iuer  rank,  may  be  plainly  inferred  from  their  Itone-monu- 
ments.  Thefe  inferior  deities,  the  Cornifh  call  Spriggian,  or  Spirits  5  which  anfwer  to  Gcrii  or  Fucrics : 
And  the  vulgar  in  Cornwall  ftill  difcourfe  of  tlieir  Spriggian,  as  of  real  beings  5  and  pay  them  a  kind 
of  veneration."     Eorlafe's  Antiquities,  p.  ic;. 

Vol.  I.  D  2  travellers. 


28  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

travellers,  to  difcover  hidden  treafures,  to  influence  the  weather,  and  to  rule  the  winds. 
— "  This,  tlien,   i'ajs  our  excellent  critic,    in  the  molt  decilive   manner — this,   fays 

WARTON,  STRENGTHENS  THE   HYPOTHESIS  OF  THE  NOTHERN  PaRTS  OF  EUROPE 

BEING  PEOPLED  Bv  COLONIES  FROM  THE  East  !  "  The  inhabitants  of  Shetland  (a) 
and  the  illesj  pour  libations  of  milk  or  beer  through  a  holed  llone,  in  honor  to  the  fpirit 
Bron.vny — and  I  doubt  not  but  the  Danmonii  were  accultomed  to  I'acrifice  to  the  lame 
fpirit ;  fince  the  Cornifli  and  the  Devonians  on  the  borders  of  Cornwall,  invoke,  to  this 
day,  th.:  fpirit  Browny,  on  the  fwarming  of  their  bees.  (/>)  With  reipect  to  rivers,  it  is 
a  certain  faft  that  the  primitive  Britons  paid  them  divine  honors.  Even  now,  in  many 
parts  of  Devonlhire  and  Cornwall,  the  vulgar  may  be  faid  to  worihip  brooks  and  wells, 
to  which  they  refort  at  liated  periods,  pei  forming  various  ceremonies  in  honor  of 
thT)fe  confecratcd  waters.  And  the  Highlanders,  to  this  day,  talk  with  great  refpeil  of 
the  genius  of  the  lea;  never  bathe  in  a  fountain,  lell  the  elegant  fpirit  that  refides  in  it 
lliould  be  offended  and  remove  ■■,  and  mention  not  the  water  of  rivers  without  prefixing 
to  it  the  name  of  f  vf('//r;//.  (r)  And  in  one  of  the  weftern  illands,  the  inhabitants  re- 
tained the  cuftom  to  the  dole  of  the  laft  century,  of  making  an  annual  lacrifice  to  the 
genius  of  the  ocean,  {d)  That  at  this  day,  the  inhabitants  of  India  deify  their  principal 
rivers,  is  a  well-known  faft  :  the  waters  of  the  Ganges  polfefs  an  uncommon  ianftity. 
And  the  modern  Arabians  (like  the  Ifhn\aclites  of  old)  concur  with  the  Danmonii,  in 
their  reverence  of  fprings  and  fountainr,.  Even  the  names  of  the  Arabian  and  Danmonian 
wells  have  a  itrikingcorrelpoadence.  We  have  the  (e)  finghig-njuell,  or  the  nx'hite fountain; 
and  there  are  fprings  with  iimilar  names  in  the  defeits  of  Arabia,  (f)  Perhaps,  the  vene- 
ration of  the  Danmonii  for  fountains  and  rivers,  may  be  accepted  as  no  ti-ivial  proof  to  be 
thrown  into  the  mafs  of  circumilantial  evidence,  in  favor  of  their  eaftern  original.  That 
the  Arabs,  in  their  thirlly  delerts,  fhould  even  adore  their  "  wells  of  fpringing  watei', " 
need  not  excite  our  furprize.  But  we  may  juftly  wonder  at  the  inhabitants  of  Devon (liji-e 
and  Cornwall  thus  worlhipping  the  Gods  of  numerous  rivers,  and  never-fiiling  brooks, 
familiar  to  every  part  of  Danmonium. 

The  Druid  rites  come  next  to  be  confidered.  The  principal  times  of  devotion  among  the 
Druids,  were  either  midday  or  midnight.  The  officiating  Druid  was  cloathed  in  a  white 
garment  that  fwept  the  ground.  On  his  head  he  wore  the  tiara.  He  had  the  anguinum 
or  ferpents  egg,  as  the  enfign  of  his  order:  his  temples  were  encircled  with  a  wreath  of 
oak-leaves ;  and  he  waved  in  hjs  hand  the  magic  rod.(^)  As  to  the  Druid  lacrifice  we  have 

various 

(rt)  See  Martin,  p.  391. 

(/')  The  Cornifli  cry,  Broiuny  .'  Brotrny  .'  from  a  belief,  that  this  invocation  will  prevent  tlie 
return  of  the  bets  into  their  former  hive,  and  make  tliem  pitch,  and  form  a  new  colony. 

(c)  See  Macpherfon's   Introdu£tion  to  the  Hiftory  0/  Great-Britain  and  Ireland,    p.    163,   164. 

(d)  See  Harris's  Weftern  Iflinds,  Edit.  2.  p.  28,  19. 

(e)  Fen-tergan.,  the  fountain  cf  the  ftiigen,  theftnghig-ivell,  or  the  white  fountain.     Dr.  Pryce. 

(f)  See  Arabian  Nights  Entertainment —a  ^c«i/;«c  work. 

{g)  Among  the  Druid  ceremonies,  the  cutting  of  the  mlJJctoe  fliould  be  noticid.  One  of  Mr. 
Urban's  correfjwndents  mentions  "  a  gentleman  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Penzance,  in  tlie  weflern 
part  of  Cornwall,  who  has  been  curious  in  making  fuch  a  colledion  of  antiquities,  as  chance  or  lijs 
endeavours  could  fiirnifli  him  with.  Among  other  things  in  this  cabinet  (fays  the  correfpondent)  I 
jjarticularly  diftinguiflied  a  piece  of  gold  in  the  form  of  a  crefcent,  fuppofed,  I  tliink  upon  fufficient 
authority,  to  have  been  worn  always  by  the  Druid  when  he  performed  the  ceremony  of  cutting  the 
mifletoe.  Although  the  religious  worfhip  of  the  Druids  was  polluted  with  human  facrifices,  yet  it 
appears  that  thefe  extreme  propitiations  o£  the  Deity  were  reforted  to  only  upon  very  extraordinary 
occafions,  fucli,  for  inftance,  as  when  an  invafion,  or  their  darling  liberty,  'as  tlireatened.  For  we 
learn  that  many  of  the  rites,  which  the  crafty  policy  of  that  order  of  priefthood  had  impofed  upon 
the  ignorance  and  credulity  of  the  people,  were  yet  innocent  in  their  nature,  and  well  enough  adapted 
to  the  rude  notions  of  uncultivated  Me.  The  power  of  healing,  which  was  found  to  refide  in  herbs, 
oould  not  fail  to  attradt  the  notice  of  the  Druids,  and  to  promote  their  interefts  by  an  obvious  delu- 
fion.  The  natural  efftits,  which  refulted  from  their  application  to  the  human  body,  were  by  them 
afcribed  to  celeftial  influences  and  fupernatural  interpofitions :  but,  when  the  herb  was  cut  or  ga- 
thered, the  prefence  and  confccration  of  a  Druid  were  neceflary,  without  wliich  every  lippe  of  relief 
'^was  vain  ;  nor  did  any  impious  patient  ever  dare  to  provoke  the  anger  of  the  gods  by  an  unauthori- 
zed appeal  to  their  interference.  Among  other  herbs  or  plants,  tiie  mifletoe,  from  its  near  affinity 
to  tlic  oak,  that  principal  objedl  of  the  Britifli  worfliip,  was  held  in  peculiar  veneration.  No  profane 
hand  could  prefume  to  cut  the  facred  mifletoe  j  nor  were  all  times  and  feafons  proper  for  the  per- 
formance 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  29 

various  and  contradictory  reprefentations.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  tlie  Druids  offered 
liuman  victims  to  their  gods.  And  there  was  an  awful  myfterioufnefs  in  the  original 
Druid  facrifice.  Having  defcanted  on  the  human  lacrifices  of  various  countries,  Mr. 
Bryant  inform?  us,  that  among  the  nations  of  Canaan,  the 'viSl'itns  ivere  chofen  in  a  peculiar 
.  manner.  Their  own  children  and  whatfoever  was  neareft  and  deareft  to  them,  were 
thought  the  moil  worthy  offerings  to  their  god!  The  Carthaginians,  who  were  a  colony 
from  Tyre,  carried  with  them  the  religion  of  their  mother  country,  and  inftituted  the 
fame  worlhip  in  the  parts  where  they  fettled.  It  confifted  in  the  adoration  of  feveral  deities, 
but  particularly  of  Kronus,  to  whom  they  oifered  human  facrifices,  the  moft  beautiful 
viftims  they  could  felefi:.  Parents  offered  up  their  own  children  as  deareft  to  themfelves, 
and  therefore  the  more  acceptable  to  the  deity  :  The}'  facrificed  "  the  fruit  of  their 
body  for  the  fin  of  their  foul."  Kronus -was  an  oriental  divinity — the  gai  of  light  and 
fire;  and,  therefore,  always  worfliipped  with  fume  reference  to  that  element.  He  was  the 
Moloch  of  the  Tyrians  and  Canaanites,  and  the  Melech  of  tlie  eaft.  Philo  Bjblius  tells  us, 
that  in  fome  ol;"  thefe  facrifices  there  was  a  particular  myjiery ,  in  confequence  of  an  example 
which  had  been  fet  thefe  people  by  the  god  K^ov®-,  who,  in  a  time  of  diftrefs,  offered  up  his 
cnly  fon  to  his  father  <?ivqa.','js.  When  a  perfbn  of  dillinftion  brought  an  only  fon  to  the 
altar  and  flaughtered  him  by  way  of  atonement,  to  a\  ert  any  evil  from  the  people — his 
was  properly  the  mjfiical  facrifice,  imitated  from  K^-'ov©^  ;  or  from  Abraham  offering  up 
his  only  fbn  Iliiac.  Mr.  Bryant  is  of  opinion,  that  this  myftical  facrifice  was  a  typical 
representation  of  the  great  vicarial  facrifice  that  was  to  come.  At  firft,  there  is  no  doubt 
but  the  Druids  Oifered  up  their  human  viftims,  with  the  fame  fublime  views.  The 
Druids  maintained,  quod  pro  ^ita  hominis  nifi  ^jita  hominis  reddatv.r,  non  po(fe  aliter  deorum. 
itnmortalium  nutnen placari.  (a)  This  m)'fterious  doftrine  is  not  of  men,  but  of  God! 
It  evidently  points  out  the  one  great  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world!  But  after  the  Phenician  colonies  had  mixed  with  the  primeval  Britons,  this 
degenerated  priefthood  feem  to  have  delighted  in  human  blood:  and  their  viilims,  though 
fometimes  beafts,  were  oftener  men.  And  not  only  criminals  and  captives,  but  their  very 
difciples  wei-e  inhumanly  facrificed  on  their  altars ;  whil'l  fonie  transfixed  by  arrows, 
others  crucified  in  their  temples,  fome  inftantly  ftabbed  to  the  heart,  and  others  impaled 
in  honor  of  the  gods,  befpoke,  amidft  variety  of  death,  the  moft  horrid  proficiency  in  the 
ftience  of  m.urder.  But  the  druid  holo-cauft,  that  monltrous  image  of  ftraw,  connefted 
and  (liaped  by  wicker-work,  and  promifcuoufly  crouded  with  wild  beafts  and  human  vic- 
tims, was,  doubtlefs,  the  moft  infernal  facrifice,  that  was  ever  invented  by  the  human 
ir,iagination.      (h)  Thefg  cruelties  were  certainly  not  attached  to  primitive  druidifm: 

they 

formance  of  t!iis  rite :  for  fo  did  the  fuperftiiion  of  the  people  receive  it.  But  •when  the  moon  bad. 
faffed  he'f,:]}  quxirtcr,  a  Druid,  fpecially  appointed,  arrayed  in  white,  a  golden  hook  in  his  hand,  a. 
g'Jder.  crrfcint  fajiened  upon  bis  garment,  approached  the  plant,  and  performed  the  ceremony  of  cut- 
ting, amidft  the  concourfe  and  acclamations  of  the  furrounding  multitude.  The  hook  or  knife  was 
of  go'd,  that  the  mifletoe  might  efcape  the  pollution  of  every  bafer  metal ;  and  the  crefcent  of  gold 
reprefented,  by  a  fingle  image,  tliat  time  of  the  moon  before  which  it  was  not  lawful  to  cut  tlie 
myftic  plant.  This  very  fingular  piece  of  antiquity  was  difcovered  by  a  common  labourer  in  turning 
up  the  ground  near  Penzance  ;  and  faved  from  rurtic  ignorance,  wliich  would  have  fold  it  for  old 
gold,  by  the  good  fortune  and  virtu  of  John  Price,  efq.  of  Chuane,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  thac 
town,  in  whofe  cabinet  it  remains  for  the  infpc<£lion  of  the  curious.  The  plate  of  gold  from  whence 
it  is  fafliioned  is  extremely  thin,  much  too  tiiin  for  the  fuperficial  dimenfions,  probably  on  account 
of  the  great  fcarcity  of  met.il  in  t!iofe  days,  whicli  by  tlie  bye,  if  any  doubt  could  be  entertained, 
would  be  an  additional  proof  of  its  original  defignation.  With  refpefc  to  i:3  figure,  the  beft  defcrif)- 
tion  I  can  propofe  to  the  reader  is,  by  referring  him  to  the  moon,  its  prototype,  at  that  period  of  its 
increafe  virhen,  as  I  before  ftated,  the  ceremony  of  cutting  th.e  mifletoe  was  performed  ;  its  fize  and 
weight  (its  weight  very  trifling)  being  fuch  as  to  mak-;  it  an  ornament,  and  not  an  incumberance, 
upon  the  garment.     Gentleman's  Magazine,  vol.  6i,  p.  34. 

[a]  CreU.r,  p.  124. 

[i]  In  an  ovie  written  on  the  ifle  of  Mann,  to  the  memory  of  bifliop  Wilfon,  at  the  requeft  of  Dr. 
Wilfon  his  fon,  and  Mrs.  Macaulay  Graham,  the  author  thus  defcribes  the  Drjids  and  their 
facrifices  ; 

"  Yc  fleeting  (hapcs,  I  cried, 

Amidft  thefe  glooms  in  pity  glide, 
For,  here  he  j  -y'd  to  rove 

rn 


30  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   ok    DEVONSHIRE. 

they  are  to  be  alciibed  to  the  Phenician  colonifts,  of  a  fubfequent  period.  Among  the 
Druid  ceremonies,  may  be  reckoned  alio  the  turnings  of  the  body,  during  the  times  of 
worihip.  The  numerous  round  tnonumcnts  in  Daninonium,  (a  few  of  which  will  be  def- 
cribed  in  the  next  feftion)  were  formed  for  the  purpofe  of  this  myllerious  rite.  In  feveral 
of  the  Scottilh  iiles,  at  this  day,  tl^  vulgar  never  approach  "  the  fire  hallowing  karne," 
without  walking  three  times  round  it  from  eaft  to  weit,  according  to  the  courfeof  the  fun. 
The  Diniids  probably  turned  funways,  in  order  to  blels  and  worihip  their  gods  ;  and  the 
contrary  way,  when  they  iiitended  to  curfe  and  defb-oy  their  enemies.  The  firft  kind  of 
turning  has  been  callerf  the  iff/a/:  the  fecond  the /ka'/.^s/.  Tacitus  alludes  to  the  latter 
iii  a  veiy  remarkable  paffage  :  DruiJteque  circutn  preces  diras,  fublatis  ad  ccelutn  inanibuSy 
fundentes,  nointate  afpeclus  perculere  tmiites.  The  Koman  foldiers,  we  fee,  were  terrified  by 
the  noveitv  of  this  rite — a  plain  proof  that  it  was  unknown  to  thofe  countries  which  had 
been  fubjefted  to  the  Roman  yoke.  The  holy  fires  of  tlie  Druids  may  alfo  deferve  our 
notice.  We  have,  at  this  day,  traces  of  the  fije-wor(hip  of  the  Druids,  in  feveral  cultoms 
both  of  the  Devonians  and  the  Cornilh:  But,  Ln  Irelr.nd,  we  may  ftill  fee  the  holy  fires,  in 
all  their  folemnity.  The  Irifh  call  the  month  of  May,  bd-tinc,  or  fire  of  Eelus  j  and  the 
firll  of  May,  la-bel-t'nic,  or  the  day  of  Kclus's  fii-e.  In  an  old  Irilli  glolfaiy,  it  is  mentioned, 
that  the  Druids  of  Ireland  ufed  to  light  two  folemn  fires  every  year ;  through  which  all 
four-footed  beafts  were  driven,  as  a  prefei-vative  againft  contagious  diltempers.  The  Irilh 
have  this  cultom  at  the  preient  moment  -.  they  kindle  the  fire  in  their  miiking-y.^rds — men, 
women-,,  and  children,  pafs  through,  or  leap  over  it ;  and  their  cattle  are  diiven  through 
the  flames  of  the  burning  ftraw,  on  the  firft  of  May.  And,  in  the  month  of  November,  they 
have  abb,  their  fire-fealts ;  when,  according  to  the  cuAom  of  the  Danmonian  as  ivell  as 
the  Irifh  Druids,  the  hills  were  enveloped  in  flame.  Previoufly  to  tjiis  folemnity,  (on  the 
eve  of  November)  the  fire  in  eveiy  private  houfe  was  extinguifhed  :  Hither,  then,  the 
people  were  obliged  to  reibrt,  in  order  to  re-kindle  it.     The  ancient  Perfians  named  the 

In  elder  times,  when  myftic  ftralns 
Echoed  through  confecrated  taiies,' 

And  rites  of  magic  charm"d  tlie  reverential  grore. 

Who  now,  while  memory  views  in  tears 
The  curtaind  fcene  of  former  years. 

Shall  guard  thefe  dimwood  rocks  j 
Where  Genii,  oft,  on  founding  wings, 
F  lutter'd,  at  evening,  o'er  the  fprings 

That  lav'd  the  wreathing  roots  of  yon  fantaflic  oaks' 

Who  now  fhall  join  the  minfirers  by, 
W'iile  glitter  to  the  full  moon's  ray 

Their  high- ilrung  harps  of  gold; 
Or,  who  furvcy  the  fweeping  pall 
Of  b.^.rds,  amid  the  feftal  ball. 

The  Druid's  floating  pomp  and  hoary  feers  of  old  ' 

Who  now,  where,  ftain'd  with  facred  blood. 
The  central  osk  o'ertops  the  wood. 

Shall  fee  the  vifiim  laid 
Shivering — on  the  dark  fhrine— and  pale. 
As  midnight  ftills  the  fpedred  vale. 

And,  lilted  for  the  ftroke,  the  lightning  of  the  blade  ? 


What !  doft  thou  moum  the  vanifh'd  rite 
That  g.ive  to  horror  the  pale  night, 
And  fhock  the  blalled  wood  ; 
While,  as  the  vidlim's  dyln?  cries 
Announced  the  buman  f^icrifue^ 

Scar'd  at  the  infernal  fcene,  the  moon  went  down  In  blood  ?  " 
See  biihopWllfon's  works,  qunrto  editior,  vol.  i,  p.  137,  appendix.  The  author  well  remem- 
bers, that  after  pafling  a  trul/  philofophic  hour,  with  Mrs.  Macaulay  and  Dr.  Wilfon,  at  Alfred  Houfe 
in  Bath,  he  f,rc-ceedcd  to  Oxford,  where,  at  Ch.  Ch.  he  wi'ote  the  ode  in  quefllon,  on  the  evening 
*f  his  arrival,  and  immediately  difp-itwhtd  it  to  tlie  Bath  printer  j  as  Wjhbn's  wDrks,  he  underfiooci, 
were  almofi  ready  for  publication. 

^  month 


The    BRITISH   PERIOD.  31 

month  of  November,  Aiuf,  or /ire.  Adiir,  according  to  Richardfon,  was  the  angel  pre- 
liding  over  that  element:  in  conlequence  of  which,  on  the  ninth,  his  name-day,  the 
country  blazed  all  around  with  flaming  piles  }  whilft  the  magi,  by  the  injunftion  of 
Zoroafler,  vifited,  witli  great  folemnity,  all  the  temples  of  fire  throughout  the  empire  ; 
which,  on  this  occafion,  were  adorned  and  illuminated  in  a  moft  fplendid  manner.  Hence 
our  Britifli  illuminations  in  November  had  probably  their  origin.  It  was  at  this  feafon, 
that  Baal  Samham  called  the  fouls  to  judgment,  which,  according  to  their  deferts,  were 
afligned  to  re-enter  the  bodies  of  men  or  brutes,  and  to  be  happy  or  miferable  during 
their  next  abode  on  the  earth.  But  the  punifhment  of  the  wicked,  the  Druids  taught, 
might  be  obliterated  by  lacritices  to  Baal.  The  facrifice  of  the  black  flieep,  therefore,  was 
offered  up  for  the  fouls  of  the  depaited,  and  various  fpecies  of  charms  (^)  exhibited- 

{a)  The  primitive  chriftians,  attached  to  their  pagan  ceremonies,  placed  the  feaft  of  All-fouls  on  the 
La  Samon,  or  the  fecond  day  of  November.     Even  now,  the  peafants  in  Ireland  aflemble  on  the  vigil 
of  La  Samon,  with  (licks  and  clubs,  going  from  houfe  to  houfe,  collefting  money,  breadcake,  butter, 
cheefe,  eggs,  &c,  forthefeaft;  repeating  verfes  in  honor  of  the  folemnity,  and  calling  for  the  ii/^c * 
pce^.     Candies  are  fent  from  hcufe  to  houfe,  and  lighted  up  on  the  Samon,  (the  next  day).     Every 
houfe  abounds  in  the  beft  viands  the  mafter  can  afford  :  apples  and  nuts  are  eaten  in  great  plenty; 
the  nutftiells  are  burnt  ^  and  from  the  allies  many  ftrange  things  are  foretold.    Kempfeed  is  fown  by 
the  maidens,  who  believe  that,  if  they  look  back,  they  ftiall  fee  the  appaiition  of  their  intended  huf- 
bands.  The  girls  make  various  efrbrts  to  read  their  defliny :  they  hang  a  fmock  before  the  fire  at  the 
clofe  of  the  feaft,  and  fit  up  all  night  concealed  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  expefting  the  apparition  of 
the  lover  to  come  down  the  chimney  and  turn  the  fmock  :  they  throw  a  ball  of  yarn  out  of  the  win- 
do .-,  and  wind  it  on  the  reel  within,  convinced  that  if  they  repeat  the  pater-noder  backwards,  and 
look  at  the  ball  of  yarn  without,  they  fliall  then  alfo  fee  his  apparition.     Thofe  who  celebiate  this 
feaft,  have  numerous  other  rites  derived  from  the  Pagans.     They  dip  for  apples  in  a  tub  of  water, 
and  endeavourto  bring  one  up  in  their  mouths  :  they  catch  at  an  apple  when  fturk  on  at  one  end  of  a 
kind  of  hanging  beam,  at  the  other  extremity  of  whicli  is  fixed  a  lighted  candle;  and  that  with  their 
mornlis  only,  whilft  it  is  in  a  circular  motion  ;  having  their  hands  tied  behind  their  backs.    A  learned 
coirefpondent,  (whofe  name  it  would  ill  become  me  to  mention  in  this  place,  but  whofe  patronage  I 
fliall  be  proud  Xo  acknowledge  hereafter)  thus  writes  from  Ireland  :  "  There  is  no  fort  of  doubt  but 
that  Baal  and  fire  was  a  principal  objed  of  the  ceremonies  and  adoration  of  the  Druids.    The  principal 
feafonsof  thefe,  and  of  their  feafts  in  Iwnor  of  Baal,  were  new-year's  day,  when  the  fun  began  vifibly 
to  return  towards  us-,  ihiscuftom  is  not  yet  at  an  end,  the  country  people  ftill  burning  out  the  old  year 
and  welcoming  the  new,  by  fires  lighted  on  the  tops  of  hills,  and  other  high  places.     The  next  feafon 
was  the  month  of  May,  wlien  the  fruits  of  the  earth  begun  in  the  eaftern  countries  to  be  gathered, 
and  the  firfl  fruits  of  them  confecrated  to  Baal,  or  to  the/a;;,  whofe  benign  influence  liad  ripened 
them  ;  and  I  am  almoft  perfuaded  that  the  dance  round  tte  may-pole  in  that  month,  is  a  faint  image 
of  the  rites  observed  on  fuch  occafions.     The  next  great  feftival  was  on  the  twen^y-firft  of  June, 
•when  tlie  fun,  being  in  Cancer,  firft  appears  to  go  backwards  and  leave  us.     On  this  occafion,  the 
Baalim  ufed  to  call  the  people  together,  and  to  light  fires  on  high  places,  and  to  caufe  their  fons  and 
their  daughters,  and  their  cattle,  to  pafs  through  the  fire,  calling  upon  Baal  to  blefs  them,  and  not 
to  forfake  them.     This  is  ftiil  the  general  praftice  in  Ireland  i    nor,  indeed,  in  any  country  arc 
there  more  Cromlechs,  or  proofs  of  the  worfhip  of  Baal  or  the  fun,  than  in  that  kingdom  5  concern- 
ing which,  I  can  give  you  a  tolerable  account,  having  been,  myfelf,  an  eyo-witnefs  to  this  great 
feftival  in  June.     But  I  muft;  firft  bring  to  your  recolledlion  the  various  places  in  Ireland,  wliich 
ftill  derive  their  names  from   Baal,   fuch  as   Baly-fhannon,    Bal-ting-las,  Bal-carras,  Behaft,  and 
many  more.     Next  I  muft  premife,  that  there  are  in  Ireland  a  great  number  of  towers,  which 
are  called  Fire-towers,  of  the  moft  remote  antiquity,  concerning  which  there  is  no  certain  hiftory, 
their  confh-udtioo  being  of  a  date  prior  to  any  account  of  the  country.     Being  at  a  gentleman's 
hotife,  about  thirty  miles  weft  of  Dublin,  to  pafs  a  day  or  two,  he  told  us,  on  the  21ft  of  June, 
we  lliould  fee  an  odd  fight,  at  midnight.     Accordingly,  at  that  hour,   he  conduced  us  out  -upon 
the  top  of  his  houfe,  where,  in  a  few  minutes,  to  our  great  aftoniihment,  we  (aw  fires  liglited  on 
ali  the  high  places  round,  fome  nearer  and  fonie  more  diftant :  V/e  had  a  pretty  extenfi^ve  view,  and 
I  ftiould  fuppofe,  miglit  fee  near  fifteen  miles  each  way.     There  were  m;>ny  heights  in  this  extent, 
and  on  every  height  was  a  fire:  I  counted  not  lefs  than  forty.    We  amufed  ourfelves  with  watching 
then4  and  with  betting  which  hill  v/ould  be  lighted  firft.     Not  long  after,  on  a  more  attentive  view-, 
I  difcovered  fhadows  of  people  near  the  fire,  and  round  it :  and  every  now  and  then,  they  quite 
darken 'd  it,   I  enquired  the  reafon  of  this,  and  what  they  were  about?  and  was  immediately  told, 
they  were  not  only  dancing  round,  but  pjffuig  through  thtfre  5  for  that  it  was  the  cuftom  of  the  coun- 
try, on  tliat  day,  Co  make  their  families,  their  tons  and  their  daughters,  and  their  cattle,  pafs  through 
tJ>e€r^  without  which  they  couM  exueCl  no  fuccefs  in  their  dairies,  nor  In  the  crops,  that  year. 

I  bow€d. 


32  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

Baal-fambaim,  a  Phenician  appellation  of  the  god  of  Baal,  in  IriHi  fignifies  the  planet  of 
the  fun.  Meni  is  an  appellation  of  the  fame  deity.  "  Ye  are  they  that  forget  my  holy 
mountain  (fays  Ilaiah)  that  prepare  a  table  for  Gad,  and  furnifh  the  drink-offering  unto 
Meni."  According  to  Jerom  and  leveral  others,  Gad  fignifies yor/««f,  or  good-fortune, 
aiid,  in  this  fenfe,  is  ufed  in  the  nth  verfe  of  tlie  30th  chapter  of  Genefis.  Thole  para- 
ges in  Jeremuili,  where  the  prophet  marks  the  fuperltition  of  the  Jews,  in  making  cakes 
for  the  ^een  of  kea-ven^  are  very  fimilar  to  this  of  Ifaiah.  At  this  very  day  we  dif- 
cover  veftiges  of  the  feltival  of  the  fun,  on  the  e-ve  of  All-fouls.  As,  at  this  feltival,  the 
Pagans  "  ate  the  facrifices  of  the  dead" — fo  our  villagers,  on  the  eve  of  All- fouls,  burn 
nuts  and  fliells,  to  Fortune,  and  pour  out  libations  of  ale  to  Meni.  The  Druids,  who 
were  the  Magi  of  the  Britons,  had  an  infinite  number  of  rites  in  common  with  the  Per- 
fians.  One  of  the  chief  functions  of  the  eaftern  magi,  was  divination  :  And  Pomponius 
Mela  tells  us,  that  our  Druids  poffefled  the  fame  art.  Tliere  was  a  folemn  rite  of  divi- 
nation among  the  Druids,  from  the  fall  of  the  viflim  and  convulfion  of  his  limbs,  or  the 
nature  and  pofition  of  his  entrails.  But  the  Britilh  prielts  had  various  kinds  of  divina- 
tion. By  the  number  of  criminal  caufes,  and  by  the  increafe  or  diminution  of  their  own 
order,  they  predidled  fertility  or  fcarcenefs.  From  the  neighing  or  prancing  of  white 
horfes,  harnelfed  to  a  confecrated  chariot — from  tl>e  turnings  or  windings  of  a  hare  let 
loofe  from  the  bofom  of  the  diviner  (with  a  variety  of  other  ominous  appearances  or  ex- 
hibitions) they  pretended  to  determine  the  events  of  futurity.  Of  all  creatures,  how- 
ever,  the  ferpent  exercifed,  in  the  moft  curious  manner,  the  invention  of  the  Druids. 
To  the  f;unous  Anguinum  they  attributed  high  virtues.  The  Anguinu?n  or  Serpent's- 
egg,  was  a  congeries  of  fmall  fnakes  rolled  together,  and  incrufted  w-ith  a  flaell,  formed 
by  the  (aliva  or  vifcous  gum  or  troth  of  the  mother-ferpent.  This  egg,  it  feems,  was 
tofled  into  the  air  by  the  hilfmgs  of  its  dam;  and,  before  it  fell  again  to  the  earth  (where 
it  would  be  defiled)  it  was  to  be  received  in  the  fagus,  or  facred  veftment.  The  perfon 
who  caught  the  e^g,  was  to  make  his  efcape  on  horfeback ;  fmce  the  ferpent  purfued  the 
ravifher  of  its  young,  even  to  the  brink  of  the  next  river,  {a)  Pliny,  from  whom  this 
account  is  taken,  proceeds  with  an  enumeration  of  other  abfurdities  relating  to  the  An- 
guinum. This  Anguinum  is,  in  Britifh,  called  Glain-neider,  or  the  Serpent  of  Glafs : 
And  the  fame  fuperftitious  reverence  which  the  Danmonii  univerfally  paid  to  the  Angui- 
num, is  Hill  dilcoverable  in  fome  parts  of  Cornwall,  {b)  Mr.  Lhuyd  informs  us,  that 
the  Cornifli  retain  variety  of  ciiarms,  and  have  ftill,  towards  the  Land's-end,  the  amulets 
of  Maen  Magal  and  Glain-neidr — which  latter  they  call  a  Melpre-v,  and  have  a  charm  for 
the  fnake  to  make  it,  when  they  have  found  one  afleep,  and  ftuck  a  hazel  wand  in  the 
centre  of  her  fpiras."  Camden  tells  us,  that  "  in  moft  part  of  Wales,  and  throughout, 
all  Scotland,  and  Cornwall,  it  is  an  opinion  of  the  vulgar,  that  about  Midfummer-eve, 
(though  in  the  time  they  do  not  all  agree)  the  fnakes  meet  in  companies ;  and  that  by 
ioining  heads  together  and  hilling,  a  kind  of  bubble  is  formed,  which  the  reil,  by  con- 
tinual hilTrng,  blow  on  till  it  paffes  quite  through  the  body ;  when  it  immediately  hardens 
and  refembles  a  glafs  ring,  which,  whoever  finds,  fhall  profper  in  all  his  undertakings. 
The  rings,  thus  generated,  are  called  Gleinu  Nadroeth,  or  Snake-ftones.  They  are  fmall 
glafs  amulets,  commonly  about  half  as  wide  as  our  finger-rings,  but  much  thicker,  of  a 
green  color  ufually,  though  fometimes  blue,  and  waved  with  red  and  white."  Carevr 
fays,  that  "  the  countrj'-people,  in  Cornwall,  have  a  perfuafion,  that  the  fnakes  breath- 
ing upon  a  hazel-wand,  produce  a  ftone-ring  of  blue  color,  in  which  there  appears  the 
yellow  figure  of  a  fnake,  and  that  beafts  bit  and  envenomed,  being  given  fome  water  to 
drink,  wherein  this  ftone  has  been  infufed,  will  perfeftly  recover  of  the  poifon."  (r) 
From  the  animal  the  Druids  pafled  to  the  vegetable  world ;  and  there,  alfo,  difplayed 
their  powers,  whijft,  by  the  charms  of  the  milletoe,  the  felago  and  the  liimolus,  they 

1  bowed,  and  recognized  the  god  Baal.  This  cuftom  is  chiefly  preferved  among  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics, whofe  bigotry,  credulity,  and  ignorance,  has  made  tiiem  adopt  it  from  tlie  ancient  Irlfh,  as  a 
tenet  of  the  cliriftian  religion.  The  Proteftants  do  not  obferve  it :  But  it  was  the  univerfal  cuftom 
in  Ireland,  before  chriftianity. 

{a)  Lib.  29,  c.  3. 

{h)  In  his  Letter,  dated  March  10,  1701,  to  Rowland,  p.  342. 

(f)  See  Cirew's  Survey,  p.  22.  Mr.  Carew  had  a  ftone-ring,  of  this  kind,  in  his  pofTefTion : 
And  the  perfon  who  gave  it  him  avowed,  that  "  he  himfelf  fa.v  apaitof  the  flick  ftickingin  it" — 
but  '.'  fenei  autboremftfdci"^ — fayi  Mr.  Carevv. 

prevented 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  ^5 

prevented  or  repelled  difeafe,  and  every  fpecies  of  misfortune.  They  made  all  nature,  in- 
deed, /"ubfervient  to  tlieir  magical  art ;  and  rendered  even  the  rivers  and  the  rocks  prophe- 
tic. From  the  undulation  or  bubbling  of  water,  llirred  by  an  oak  branch  or  magic  wand, 
they  foretold  events  that  were  to  come.  This  fuperltition  of  the  Druids,  is  even  now 
retained  in  the  weftern  counties.  To  this  day,  the  Corniih  have  been  accultomed  to  con- 
fuk  ttieir  famous  well,  at  Madeni,  or  rather  the  J'pirit  of  the  well,  refpefti.ig  their  future 
deltitiy.  "  Hitlier  (fays  Borlafc)  come  the  uneafy,  impatient,  and  fuperititious  ;  and  by 
dropping  pins  or  pebbles  into  the  water,  and  by  (haking  the  ground  round  the  Ipring, 
£0  a-,  to  raife  bubbles  from  the  bottom,  at  a  certain  time  of  the  year,  moon,  and  day,  en- 
deavour to  remove  their  uneafmels  :  Yet  the  luppoled  refponies  (erve  equally  to  encreafe 
the  gloom  of  the  melancholy,  the  fufpicions  of  the  jealous,  and  the  ^laOion  of  the  ena- 
moured. The  Caitalian  Fountain,  and  many  others  among  the  Grecians,  was  fuppofed 
to  be  of  a  prophetic  nature.  By  dipping  a  fair  mirror  into  a  well,  the  Patra;ans  of 
Greece  received,  as  they  fuppofed,  fome  notice  of  enfuing  ficknefs  or  health,  from  the 
various  figures  portrayed  upon  the  furface.  The  people  of  Laconia  caft  into  a  pool,  fa- 
cred  to  Juno,  cakes  of  bread-corn:  If  the  cakes  I'unk,  good  was  portended:  If  they 
fWam,  lomething  dreadful  was  to  enfue.  Sometimes,  the  luperftitlous  threw  three  Itones 
into  the  water;  and  formed  their  conclufions  from  the  feveral  turns  they  made  in  finking.'* 
The  Druids  were,  likewlfe,  able  to  communicate,  by  confecration,  the  moft  portentous 
virtues  to  rocks  and  ftones,  which  could  determine  the  fuccefiion  of  princes  or  the  fate  of 
empires.  To  the  Rocking  or  (^)Logan-ftone,  in  particular,  they  had  recourfe  to  confirm 
their  authority,  either  as  prophets  or  judges,  pretending  that  its  motion  was  miraculous. 
In  what  confecrated  places  or  temples  tiiele  religious  rites  were  celebrated,  feems  to  be 
the  next  enquiry  :  And,  it  appears,  that  they  were,  for  the  moft  part,  celebrated  in  the 
midit  of  groves.  The  myfterious  filence  of  an  ancient  wood,  ditfufes  even  a  fhade  of 
horror  over  minds  that  are  yet  liiperior  to  liiperftitious  credulit3\  .  The  majeftic  gloom, 
therefore,  of  their  con lecrated  oaks,  mint  have  impreft  the  lefs  informed  multitude  with 
every  fenfation  of  awe  that  miglit  he  necefl'ary  to  the  fupport  of  their  religion,  and  the 
dignity  of  the  priefthood.  The  religious  wood  was  generally  fituated  on  the  top  of  a  hill 
or  a  mountain  ;  where  the  Druids  ere£led  their  fanes  and  their  altars.  The  Temple  was 
feldom  any  other  than  a  rude  circle  of  rock,  perpendicularly  raifed.  An  artificial  pile 
of  large  flat  Hone,  in  general,  compofed  the  altar:  And  the  whole  religious  mountain 
was  ulually  enclofed  by  a  low  mound,  to  prevent  the  intrufion  of  the  profane.  Among 
the  primseval  people  of  the  eaft,  altars  were  incloled  by  groves  of  trees;  and  thefe  groves 
confilted  of  plantations  of  oak.  Abram  palled  through  the  land  unto  the  place  of  Sichem 
— unto  the  oak  of  Moreh :  And  the  Lord  appeared  unto  Abram  ;  and  there  he  budded 
an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  who  appeared  unto  him  befide  the  oak  of  Moreh.  (i)  That  par- 
ticular places  and  temples  in  D.anmonium,  were  appropriated  to  particulai'  deities,  is  an 
unqueftionable  hit.  Borlafe  tells  us,  that  the  oldBritifh  appellation  of  the  Calliterides  or 
8cilly  Ifiands,  was  Su/Ieh  or  Sjllfh — which  figni.*ies  rocks  conj'ecraied  to  the  fun.  (<r)  This 
anfwers  to  the  temples  of  Iran,  which  were  dedicated  to  the  fun  and  the  planets ;  And  the 
facred  ceremonies  of  Iran  are  reprelented  by  fculptures,  in  the  ruined  city  of  Jemfchid.  (t/) 

{a)  Of  thefe  Logan-ftones,  we  have  feveral  yet  remaining  in  Devonfhire,  which  I  ftiall  notice  hereafter. 

(^)  In  Babylon,  the  oak  was  facred  to  Baal. 

(f)  Of  thefe  iflands,  the  Britifh  name  was  Sulleh,  {i%miy\n%  flat  rocki  dedicated  to  the  fun.  Thus 
St.  Michael's  Mount  was  originaliy  called  DiNtur.,  or  the  bill  dedicated  to  the  fun.  And  the  vaft  fiat 
rocks,  common  in  the  Scilly  Ifles,  particularly  atPeninis,  Kam-leh,  Petilch,  Ka>-n-ii-avel ;  hut,  above 
all,  the  enormous  rock  on  Salakee  Downs,  formerly  the  floor  of  a  great  temple,  are  no  improbable 
arguments  that  they  might  have  had  the  fame  dedication,  and  fo  have  given  name  to  thefe  iflands. 
Nor  is  it  an  unprecedented  thing  to  find  an  ifland,  in  this  climate,  dedicated  to  the  fun.  Diodorus 
Siculus,  B.  3.  fpeaking  of  a  Northern  Ifland,  over  againft  the  Celtae,  fays  :  "  It  was  dedicated  to 
Apollo,  who  frequently  converfed  with  the  inhabitants  :  And  they  had  a  large  grove  and  temple  of 
a  round  form,  to  wliich  the  priefts  reforted,  to  fmg  the  praifes  of  Apollo."  And  there  :an  be  no 
doubt  but  this  was  one  of  the  Britifli  Iflands,  and  the  Priefls,  Druids.  See  Boilafe's  Ancient  and 
prefent  State  of  the  Ifles  of  Scilly,  p.  59,  60.     See,  alfo,  his  Antiquities  of  Cornwall,  B.  2.  C.  17, 

{d)  Cooke,  in  his  enquiry  into  the  Patriarchal  and  Druidical  religion,  fays :  "  Not  to  Jay  any 
greater  flrefs  than  needs,  upon  the  evidence  of  the  affinity  of  words  with  the  Hebrevy  and  Phenj- 
cian;  the  iiultitude  of  i^/farj  and /-i/.Wi,  ox  temples.,  fet  up  in  the  ancient  patriarchal  way  cf  vvcrfliip 
throughout  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  the  iflands,  form  a  concluflve  argument,  that  an  oriental 
colony  mufl  have  been  very  early  introduced." 

Vol.  I,  E  And 


34  V     HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

And  a  number  of  places  ui  Danmonium  ftill  preferve  in  their  names,  the  lafting  rrpemo- 
rials  of  the  Britifh  deities.  I»  Trefadarn,  we  have  the  tonxin  or  houfe  of  Saturn — in  Nan- 
fadarn,  the  Valley  of  Saturn.  And  many  of  the  enormous  rocks,  which  rile  with  pec\iliar 
grandeur  in  thole  wild  places,  were  undoubtedly  appropriated  to  the  fire-worfliip  of  the 
God.  We  have,  alio,  places  in  Danmonium,  which  retain  the  names  of  Mars  and  of 
Mercury,  as  Tremer,  the  toivn  of  Mars,  and  Gun-Mar' r,  and  Kelli-MarV,  theDo-ivns  and 
the  Grove  of  Mercury.  It  was  in  thePhenician  age,  the  corrupted  age  of  Druidifm,  that 
temples  were  cretfted  to  Beiifama,  or  the  Slueen  of  hea-ven,  both  in  the  metropolis  of  the 
ifland,  («)  and  in  the  chief  city  of  Danmonium  {h) ;  that  a  temple  was  confecrated  to 
Onca,  at  Bath(c)  ;  and  that  facred  buildings  were  probably  frequented  at  the  Start-point, 
by  the  votaries  of  AJiarte,  and  at  the  promontory  of  Hertland,  by  the  worlhippers  of 
Hercules. 

From  all  thofe  views  of  the  Druid  religion,  I  have  no  doubt  but  it  derived  its  origin 
immediately  from  Ajia.  Dr.  Borlafe  has  drawn  a  long  and  elaborate  parallel  between  the 
Druids  and  Perfians ;  where  he  has  plainly  proved,  that  they  refembled  each  other,  as 
ftri(5Hy  as  pofllble,  in  every  particular  of  religion.  It  was  the  fublime  doctriiie  of  the 
primitive  Druids  of  Danmonium,  that  the  Deity  was  not  to  be  imaged  by  any  human 
figure  :  And  the  Magi  of  Perfia,  before  and  long  after  Zoroafter,  admitted  no  ftatues  into 
tlieir  temples.  The  Druids  worfhipped,  indeed,  the  whole  expanle  of  heaven  ;  wliich 
they  reprefented  by  their  circular  temples  :  And  the  Perfians  held,  that  the  whole  round 
of  heaven  was  their  Jupiter.  From  all  their  monuments  that  remain,  it  appears,  that  the 
Druids  never  admitted  of  covered  temples  for  the  worfhip  of  their  Gods  :  And  the  an- 
cient Perfians  performed  all  the  offices  of  their  religion  in  the  open  air.  Both  the  Druids 
and  the  Perfians  worihipped  their  God  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains.  The  Perilans  vvor- 
Ihipped  the  ferpent,  as  the  fymbol  of  their  god  Mithras,  or  the  fun  -.  And  from  their 
veneration  for  the  Anguinum,  and  other  circumftances,  we  may  conchKle,  that  the  Druids 
paid  divine  honors  to  the  lerpent.  The  Perfians  maintained,  that  their  god  Mithras  was 
born  of  a  rock ;  befide  other  abfurdities  of  this  nature  :  And  the  rock-wor(hip  of  the 
Druids  is  fufficiently  known.  The  Druids  maintained  the  tranlmigration  of  the  Ibul ;  and 
the  Perfians  held  the  fame  doftrine.  As  to  the  priefthood,  and  the  ceremonials  of  reli- 
gion, the  Druids,  and  the  Per fian  Magi,  were  of  the  noblelt  order  in  the  ftate  :  The  Druids 
were  ranked  with  the  Britifh  Kings  ;  and  the  Magi  with  the  Kings  of  Perfia.  The  Druid 
Prieft  was  cloathed  in  white  ;  the  holy  vefture,  called  the  Sagus,  was  white  ;  the  facrifi- 
cial  bull  was  white  ;  the  oracular  hories  were  white.  In  like  manner  the  Perfian  Magus 
was  cloathed  in  white  ;  the  horfes  of  the  Magi  were  white  ;  the  King's  robes  were  white  ; 
and  fo  were  the  trappings  of  his  horfes.  The  Druids  wore  fandals  :  ib  alio  did  the 
Perfians.  The  Druids  facrificed  human  viftims  ;  fo  did  the  Perfians.  Ritual  wafhings 
and  purifications  were  alike  common  to  the  Druids  and  Perfians.  The  Druids  had  their 
feftal  fires,  of  which  we  have  Hill  inftances  in  thefe  weftern  parts  of  the  idand  :  and  the 
Perfians  had  alfo  their  feftal  fij-es,  at  the  winter  iblltice,  and  on  the  9th  of  March.  The 
holy  fii-es  were  alike  familiar  to  the  Druids  and  the  Perfians.  The  Druids  uled  the 
holy  fire  as  an  antidote  againft  the  plague  or  the  murrain  in  cattle :  and  the  Perfian* 
placed  their  fick  before  the  holy  fire,  as  of  great  and  healing  virtue.  In  Britain,  the 
people  were  obliged  to  rekindle  the  fires  in  their  own  houfes,  from  the  holy  fires  of  the 
Druids.  And  the  fame  cultom  aftually  cxilts,  at  this  day,  in  Perfia.  The  day  after 
their  feaft,  which  is  kept  on  the  2+th  of  April,  the  Perfians  extinguifli  all  their  domeftic 
tires,  and  to  rekindle  them,  go  to  the  houfes  of  their  pi-iefts,  and  there  light  their  tapers. 
To  divination,  the  Druids  and  Perfians  were  both  equally  attached  ;  and  they  had  both 
the  fame  modes  of  divining.  Pliny  tells  us,  that  our  Druids  fo  far  exceeded  the  Perfians 
in  magic,  that  he  Hiould  conceive  the  latter  to  have  learnt  the  art  in  Britain.-  The  Dru- 
ids foretold  future  events,  from  the  neighing  of  their  while  oracular  liorfes.  Cyrus, 
King  of  Perfia,  had  alfo  his  white  and  lacred  horfes  :  And,  not  long  after  Cyrus,  the 
fucceffion  to  the  imperial  throne  was  determined  by  the  neighing  of  a  horfe.  The  Druids 
reo-arded  their  milktoe  as  a  general  antidote  againlt  all  poilons  :  and  they  preferved  their 
fela'^o  as  a  charm  againll  all  misfortunes.     And  the  Perfians  had  the  fame  confidence  iu 

(a)  The  Temple  of  Diana,  where  St.  Paul's  now  ftands. 

(Ji)  At  Exeter  was  found,  a  few  years  fince,  a  lamp,  which,  evidently,  belonged  to  a  temple  of 
Diana. 

(c)  Batb-onca-^Bedonka. 

the 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  35 

f'lie  efficacy  of  feveral  herbs,  and  ufed  them  in  a  fimilar  manner.  The  Druids  cut  their 
M'tjletoe  with  a  golden  hook  :  And  the  Perlians  cut  the  twigs  of  Ghe-z.  or  Haulm,  called 
Bur/am,  with  a  peculiar  fort  of  confecrated  knife.  The  candidates  for  the  vacant  Britilh 
throne  had  recourfe  to  the /<?/«/ y?5«f,  to  determine  their  pretenfions  :  And,  on  limilar 
occalions,  the  Perfians  recurred  to  their  Artizoe.  Dr.  Borlale  has  pointed  out  other 
refemblances :  But  I  have  enumerated  only  the  moft  itriking.  It  is  of  confequence  to 
obferve,  that  Dr.  Borlaie  has  formed  this  curious  parallel  without  any  view  to  an  hypo- 
thefis.  Eveiy  particular  is  related  with  caution  and  fcrupuloufnefs :  No  forced  refem- 
blances are  attempted ;  but  plain  fafts  are  brought  togetlier,  fometimes,  indeed,  reluc- 
tantly J  though  the  Dottor  feldom  ftruggled  againft  the  truth.  His  mind  was  too  candid 
and  ingenuous  for  fuch  a  refiilance.  In  the  mean  time,  a  fyftematical  coUeftor  of  fafts 
is  always  animated  by  his  fubieft.  Every  circumftance  that  leems  to  llrengthen  his 
theory,  imparts  a  brilknefs  to  his  circulation.  From  the  ardor  of  his  fpirits,  his  ex- 
preilions  acquire  new  energy — his  portraits  a  high  colouring.  But  we  cannot  congra- 
tulate the  Doftor  on  fuch  an  enlivening  glow  :  His  narrative  is  tame ;  his  manner  is 
frigid.  And,  what  is  truly  unfortunate,  after  he  has  prefented  us  with  all  thefe  accu- 
mulated fafts,  he  is  at  a  lofs  in  what  manner  to  dii'poie  of  them.  He  fees,  indeed — he  is 
llartled  at  the  difcovery  that  they  make  againll  his  own  and  the  common  opinion  :  He 
perceives,  that  they  might  be  brought  in  evidence  againlt  himfelf.  A  faint  glimmerino" 
of  the  fecret  ktjjory  of  the  ivorlJ.  feems  to  ftioot  acrofs  his  mind  ;  but  he  is  loft  again  in 
darknefs.  Such  is  his  diltreifrng  fituation.  Obferve  how  he  labours  to  get  clear  from 
the  difHculties  in  which  he  has  involved  himlelf.  The  Druids,  he  had  maintained, 
were  a  feft  which  had  its  rile  among  the  Britons.  Here,  we  fee,  he  ow^ned  the  inde- 
pendency of  our  Druids  on  the  Druids  of  the  Continent;  though  his  fuppofition  that 
Druidifm  abiblutely  originated  in  Britain,  is  evidently  abfurd.  At  this  junfture,  it 
is  a  fuppofition  that  involves  him  in  greater  perplexity.  It  evidently  cuts  off  all  refources 
in  the  Continent  of  Eui-ope  :  However  puzzled  the  Doftor  may  be,  he  cannot  look  to 
the  Gauls  or  the  Gennans  for  the  folution  of  the  difficulties  he  has  ftarted.  He  cannot 
fay,  that  we  received  Druidifm  from  the  eaft  (as  is  commonly  faid)  through  the  medium 
of  Germany  and  Gaul  ;  and  hence  account  for  thole  various  fimilarities — fmce  he  traces 
the  birth  of  Druidifm  on  this  ifland  itfclf  !  He  has,  undoubtedly,  fimplilied  the  queftion  : 
and  he  points  our  views  through  a  very  narrow  villa  to  the  eaft,  or  rather  to  Perlia  alone. 
He  feems,  indeed,  to  have  infulated  himfelf,  and  to  have  rejected  the  common  fuc- 
cours.  To  account  for  thefe  reiemblances  he  might  have  recuned,  had  he  not  fixed 
the  origin  of  Druidilm  in  Britain,  to  the  continental  tribes,  whom  he  might  have  repre- 
feiited  as  bringing  Druidilm,  pure  and  uncorrupted,  from  Afia  over  Europe,  into  this 
remote  illand.  He  would,  in  this  cafe,  have  followed  the  beaten  track.  Dr.  Borlale,  in- 
deed, feems  to  be  fenfible,  that  this  beaten  track  ought  to  be  abandoned.  If  he  had  fol- 
lowed it,  he  would  liuve  wandered  L\r  from  the  truth  :  In  the  prefent  cafe,  he  is  as  near 
the  truth  as  he  poilibly  could  have  been,  without  reaching  it.  But  lee  his  poor,  his  wretched 
conclufion — after  iiich  a  noble  accumulation  of  fafts — fuch  a  weight  of  circumftantial 
evidence,  as  feems  irreliltible — See  his  miferable  fubtcrfuge  :  "  It  has  been  hinted  be- 
fore, that  the  Druids  were,  probably,  obliged  to  Pythagoras,  for  the  doftrine  of  the 
tranfmigration,  and  other  particulars ;  And,  there  is  no  doubt,  but  he  was  learned  in  all 
the  magian  religion  :  It  was  with  this  magian  religion  that  the  Druids  maintained  io 
great  a  uniformity.  Tls  not  improbable,  then,  that  the  Druids  might  have  drawn  by 
his  hands  out  of  the  PerHan  fountains."  Wluit  can  be  more  improbable  than  this  ? 
That  a  fmgle  man,  who  by  travelling  through  a  foreign  country,  had  acquired  Ibme 
knowledge  of  its  religion,  fliouUl  have  been  able,  on  his  return  from  travel,  to  perfuade 
a  w-hole  priefthood,  whoie  tenets  were  fixed,  to  embrace  the  doftrines  and  adopt  the 
rites  he  recommended,  is  furely  a  moft  ridiculous  pofition.  Befides,  were  this  admitted, 
would  it  account  for  the  ftrength  and  exaftnefs  of  thefe  reiemblances  ?  If  Pythagoras 
introduced  any  of  the  Druidical  fecrets  into  Britain,  it  was,  I  fuppofe^  through  his 
friend  Aharis — for  it  does  not  appear  that  this  iage  ever  travelled  into  Britain,  himfeff. 
"  Abaris,  the  Doftor  flyly  hints,  was  very  intimate  with  Pythagoras — fo  intimat?,  indeed, 
that  he  did  not  fcruple  to  communicate  to  him,  freely,  the  real  fentiments  of  his  heart." 
And  Abaris,  it  feems,  paid  a  viiit  to  the  Danmonians.  Here,  then,  all  is  ligh  .  Pytha- 
goras was  fortunate  enough  in  a  remote  country,  to  dive  into  the  hidden  things  of  its 
inhabitants — to  expifcate  the  profoundeft  of  all  fecrets,  the  myfteries  of  religion.  Thefe 
Arcana,  it  feemi,  he  inip:u-ted  to  Abaris,  his  bofom  friend ;  And  Abaris  very  civjiiy 
Vol.  I.  E  a  communicated 


36 


HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 


communicated  the  whole  to  our  Devonfhire  andCornifh  priefts.  And  our  Devonfliire  and 
Cornifh  prieils,  with  a  verlatility  that  (hewed  their  lenfe  of  his  politeneCs,  new-modelled 
their  religion,  on  his  plan.  Hence  the  relembhuice  of  the  Druids  and  the  Pedians  m  a 
thouland  diilerent  points ! — Doi^^or  Borlale,  however,  is  by  no  means  fatisfied  with  this 
argument.  But,  too  timid  to  diveft  himfelf  of  the  opinions  which  he  had  long  taken 
upon  truft,  he  makes  Itill  another  etiort  to  account  for  a  likenefs  fo  embarrafling. 
"  Whence  (fays  he)  this  furprifing  conformity  in  their  priefts,  do6trines,  worfhip,  and 
temples,  between  two  fuch  dillant  nations  as  the  Verfians  and  Britons,  proceeded,  it  is 
difficult  to  lay.  There  never  /appears  fo  ka-ve  been  the  leaf  migra.ion — any  accidental 
or  meditated  intercourfe  betwixt  them,  after  the  one  people  was  fettled  in  Perfia, 
and  the  other  in  Britain."  This  ftrift  agreement  was  too  obvious  to  elcape  the  notice 
of  the  judicious  Peloutier.  Dr.  Borlafe  attempts  a  fohition  of  the  difficulty,  in  the 
following  manner.  "  The  Plvenicians  were  ver}^  converlant  with  the  Periians  for  the 
fake  of  eartern  trade  :  And  nothing  is  m.ore  likely  than  that  the  Phenicians,  and  after 
them  the  Greeks,  finding  the  Druids  devoted  beyond  all  others  to  iiiperftition,  fhould 
make  their  court  to  that  powerful  ci\1er.  by  bringing  them  continual  notices  of  ori- 
ental fuperftitions,  in  order  to  promote  and  engrois  the  lucrative  trade  which  they 
carried  on  in  Britain  for  fo  many  ages.  And  the  fame  channel  tJiat  imported  the  Perfian, 
might  alio  introduce  fome  Jevviiii  and  Egyptian  rites.  The  Phenicians  tj-aded  with 
i^gypt,  and  had  Judaa  at  their  own  doors:  And,  from  the  Phenicians,  the  Druids 
might  learn  fome  few  Egyptian  and  Jcwiih  rites,  and  interweave  them  among  their 
own."  That  thePhenician  merchants  Ih'ould  have  taught  ourDrnids,  the  Perfian,  Jewiffi, 
and -^gj'ptian  religion,  is  too  abfurd  afuppolition  to  require  a  formal  refutation.  Admit- 
ting that  theie  merchants  were  in  the  habit  cf  retailing  religion,  and  bartering  it  with  the 
Pritons  for  tin ;  can  we  think,  that  thefe  religious  tenets  and  ceremonies  could  be  im- 
ported in  fuch  excellent  prefervation  as  we  find  them  in  this  iiland  ;  or,  if  fo  imported, 
would  be,  at  once,  honoured  by  our  Druids,  with  a  diftinguifiied  place  among  their  old 
religious  pofltffions  ?  It  is  fingular  that  Dr.  Borlafe,  who  was  fo  near  the  truth,  fo.ould 
have  wandered  from  it,  immediately  on  the  point  of  approaching  it.  Dr.  Borlale,  how- 
ever, is  remai'kable  for  his  fairnefs  in  ftating  every  queliion  ;  tiiough  the  conclufions  he 
draws  from  his  premifes  are  not  always  the  moft  obvious.  Others  have  attempted  to  get 
rid  of  the  quefticn  in  a  more  general  way.  To  account  for  this  fimilarity  in  the  opinions 
and  inilitutions  of  our  Druids,  and  ail  the  oriental  prieils,  it  is  fiiid  that  they  were 
derived  from  one  common  fountain — fron\  Noah  himfelf,  v.iio  let  apart  an  order  of  men 
for  the  purpofe  of  prelerving  thofe  doftrines,  through  fuccelTiye  ages,  and  m  various 
countries,  wherever  this  order  might  be  difperfed.  But  t'ae  defendants  of  thofe  who 
travelled  weft  of  \Iount  Ararat,  are  not  fuppofed  to  have  reached  Britain  by  travelling 
overland,  till  after  many  generations.  Their  progrefs  muft  have  been  necellarily  flow ;  and 
difcontinuous  and  varioufly  interrupted.  In  this  cafe,  they  muft  have  loft  the  character  of 
their  original  country',  before  they  could  have  fettled  in  Britain.  And  the  fpirit  of  their 
religion  muft  have  evaporated  in  the  lame  proportion:  We  ffiould  expeft,  therefore,  to 
find  fainter  traces  of  it,  the  further  we  purlued  it  from  its  fountain-head.  We  have  ob- 
fcrved,  however,  the  contrary  in  this  ifland.  If  the  Druids  had  been  Celtic  priefts,  they 
would  have  fprcad  with  the  feveral  divihons  of  the  Celts.  They  would  have  been  emi- 
nent among  the  Germans  :  they  would  have  been  confpicuous,  though  lefs  vifible,  among 
the  Gauls.  But,  in  Germany,  there  were  no  Druids  :  And  Gaul  had  none,  till  (he  im- 
ported them  from  Britain.  In  (liort,  we  need  not  hefitate  to  declare,  that  the  Druidifm 
of  Britain  was  Afiatic.  The  Danmonii,  tranfplanted  into  the  Britiili  iiles,  retained  thofe 
eaftern  modes,  which  feemed  little  accordant  with  their  new  fituation.  And  was  not 
their  wor(hip  of  the  fun  fo  unnatural  in  the  dreary  climates  of  the  north,  their  doCirine  as 
to  the  ftars,  fo  little  regarded  for  fcientinc  purpoies  by  the  European  nations,  thoir  fublime 
tenets  concerning  the  origin  of  nature  and  of  the  hea-iiens — were  not  all  the(e  ftrongly  con- 
trafted  with  the  religion  of  the  coiuinent  ?  Were  not  all  thefe  ablblutely  unknown  to  the 
Europeans;  and  deemed,  as  foon  as  difcovered,  the  objeiTts  of  curiofity  and  veneration? 
Were  not  all  the.^e  new  toCa;far  ?  In  faft,  the  Britifli  Druids  knew  more  cf  the  true  origin 
of  the  mythology  adopted  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  than  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
probably  did  themlelves  :  And  I  cannot  but  obferve,  that  every  part  of  Caefar's  account  of 
their  religious  tenets,  merits  a  dilfertation ;  for  they  refer  to  the  firft  ages  of  mankind. 
Does  Csefar,  any  where,  fpeak  thus  of  .the  Belg^e — thofe  fugitive  Germans,  driven  by 
their  ftronger  neighbours  over  theRliine  into  Gaul,  and  afterwards,  perhaps,  driven  from 

Gaul 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  37 

Gaul  to  take  HicUer  on  the  lea-coaft  of  Britain  ?  Does  he  any  where  fpeak  thus  of  one 
tribe  or  ftate  on  the  Continent  ? — I  believe  no  where.  The  doctrines  of  the  Bri  :illi  Druids 
were  peculiar  to  themlelves  in  Europe — full  of  deep  knowledge  and  high  antiquity.  Mr. 
Wliitaker  himfelf  exclaims  in  a  ftyle  truly  oriental :  "  There  was  Ibmething  in  the  Dru- 
idical  fpecies  of  heatheniim,  that  was  peculiarly  calculated  to  arrell  the  attention  and  ira- 
prels  the  mind.  The  rudely  majeftic  circle  of  ftones  in  their  temples,  the  enormous 
Cromlech,  the  mafly  Logan,  the  huge  Carnedde,  and  the  magnificent  amphitheatres  of 
woods,  would  all  very  ftrongly  lay  hold  upon  that  religious  thoughttulnefs  of  foul,  which 
has  been  ever  fo  natural  to  man,  amid  all  the  wrecks  of  humanity — the  monument  of  his 
former  perfection  !"  That  Druidiira  then,  as  originally  exifting  in  Devonlhire  and  Corn- 
wall, was  immediately  tranfported,  in  all  its  purity  and  perfection,  from  the  ealt,  feeras  to 
me  extremely  probable- 

But  we  have  feen  that  this  religion  is  not  entirely  confiftent  with  itfelf — that  though 
wildom  and  benevolence  are  fometimes  exhibited  as  its  commanding  features,  yet  the 
grofleit  folly  aad  inhumanity  are  no  lefs  prominent,  on  other  reprefentations  of  it. 
The  Phenicians,  however,  introducing  their  corrupt  doftrines,  and  degenerated  rites, 
will  account  at  once  for  thefe  incongruities.  And  we  have  already  obferved  the  inter- 
mixture of  the  Phenician  with  the  Aboriginal  dodtrines  and  ceremonies.  If  a  Phe- 
nician  colony,  f'ubiequent  to  the  firft  peopling  of  the  ifland,  fettled  here  (as  I  have  ftated 
in  the  fecond  fection)  about  the  time  of  Jolhua,  there  is  no  doubt  but  they  difTeminated 
in  Danmonium  a  vaft  variety  of  fuperftitious  notions.  At  this  junfture,  their  religioa 
was  llained  with  manifold  impurities. (rt)  But,  as  I  have  hinted  above,  it  would  be  ira- 
polFible  to  feparate  ail  the  fuperltitions  which  were  countenanced  as  popular  tenets  by 
the  Druids  before  the  arrival  of  the  Phenician  colony,  from  the  fuperititions  which  this 
colony  int)"oduced.  I  ihall  not,  tlierefore,  in  this  place,  attempt  to  difcriminate  the  Phe- 
nician from  the  primitive  Danmonian  religion.  For  the  Grecian  colony,  they  Averc 
furely  not  inaftive  in  fpreading  their  religious  tenets  where  they  fettled ;  though  there  is 
more  of  fancy  than  of  real  truth  in  the  accou!its  which  are  pretended  to  ^lave  been  tranf- 
mitted  through  the  line  of  hiftory,  refpefting  their  deities  or  their  temples,  in  this  country. 
The  authorities,  on  which  fuch  traditions  reft,  are  very  doubtful,  if  not  palpably  fpu- 
rious  :  And  yet  our  chronicles  had  a  certain  "t^w  ■rn^ca  ;  though,  when  they  got  footing 
on  a  fimple  fiict,  they  fo  embellilhed  it  by  poetical  fictions,  that  many  are  led  to  fufpeft 
the  whole  to  be  falfe,  becaufe  they  are  convinced  that  the  greateft  part  is  fo.  That  the 
Grecian  colony  built  a  temple  at  the  K^ta  (jA'\ujt:o<j ,  or  incorporating  with  the  Danmonli, 
erected  a  temple  at  Exeter,  I  will  not  prefume  to  ailert.  But  if  the  exiftence  of  the  colony 
be  granted,  we  need  not  doubt  but  they  had  buildings  appropriated  to  religious  orfhip. 
The  Belgffi,  invading  our  coafts,  drove  the  Britons  of  Danmonium  into  the  centi-al 
parts,  and-  thus  contributed  to  fpread  the  Druid  religion  over  the  reft  of  fhe  ifland. 
With  refpect,  however,  to  the  religion  of  the  Belgs,  and  of  the  other  continental  tribes, 
I  fliall  not  attempt  to  chajaClerize  it.'  Certain  it  is,  that  before  the  time  of  Caefar,  the 
Gauls  were  in  pofieiTion  of  Druidifm,  though  in  a  very  imperfect  ftate.  Their  religion 
could  have  ill-refembled  the  Druidifm  of  Danmonium,  whilit  they  blindly  adopted  thofe 
corrupt  notions  and  impure  ceremonies  which  prevailed  in  the  greater  part  of  Europe. 
But,  amidit  thefe  tokens  of  degeneracy,  thej^  ftill  difplayed  fome  proof  both  of  wifdora 
and  of  diffidence,  whilit,  conlcious  of  their  religious  inferiority,  and  not  afhamed  to  avow 
it,  they  frequently  rtc\irred,  for  inltruCtion,  to  the  Aborigines  of  Britain  ! 

{a)  In  conformity  to  this  Idea,  we  find,  that  the  Perfian  religion  was  firfl  Maglan  entirely  :  Then 
eame  in  Sablanirn,  with  all  the  additions  of  Imaje-woriTiip  :  Tlien  came  Zoroafler,  and  his  reform- 
ation of  magianifni.  The  Phenicians  anciently  worfhipped  only  the  fun  and  moon,  under  the  names 
of  I3aal  or  Belus,  and  A\\KxK^-~p<crepentc  av.um  LUIatria,  Henu'ci  Phcer.ix  al-ijue  Dcorum  numerurt 
euxcrunt.  (l) 

(1)  Wife,  Eoaie.  Med.  p.  2 .  .^ 


SECTION 


33  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

SECTION    IV. 

riEU^cftke  CIFIL,  MILITARY,  and  RELIGIOUS  ARCHITECTURE  of  D AMMONIUM. 

1.  Tlie  Danmoman  Houfes — their  Form  and  Materials — tkeir  Situation — The  Danmonian 
Cat'erns — The  Danmonian  To-ivn,  confifiing  of  a  Manjion-Houfe,  and  a  number  of  inferior 
Hutfes — a  Beacon  o-verlooking  it — a  RoadJ'rom  one  Toiun  to  another — Fef/ges  of  the  Britijk 
Hoftfes  on  Dartmoor — Britijh  Caverns  in  Dei'onfljire  and  Cornxvall — Line  of  Beacons  on 
each  Side  of  the  Juguni  Ocrinum — and  on  the  Jugufn  Ocrinum  itfelf. — II.  Architeilure  of 
the  Britons  more  refpeSable  than  it  is  ufually  confidered — City  of  Exeter — ?lan  of  a  Britijh 
City  en  a  Gold  Coin  of  the  Britons,  proha.bly  Exeter — Exmouth — Okchntnpton — Dreivfteington 
— Totnes — Armenton — Plymton — Tamara — Voluha — Uxella — Cenia — Termolus — Arta^via 
— Micfidum —  Hahngitim — Redruth —  Milita>y  StruEliires —  Karnbre- Caftle —  Cajlles  'with 
Keeps —  Rougemont-Cafle —  Okehampton-Cafle —  Totnes -Cafle —  Plymton -Cafle —  Trema- 
ton-CaHle — Reformel-Cajlle — Launcefton-Cajile — Britijh  Roads  in  Danmonium — III.  Reli- 
f;ioits  Aychiteiiure — the  Rock  Idol — the  Logan-Stone — the  Rock-Bafon — the  fingle  Stone- 
Pi/lar — t^tuo,  three,  or  more  Stone-Pillars — Circular  Stone-Pillars — the  Cromlech — Affem- 
blage  of  Druidical  Monuments  at  DrcTvJleignton — the  Stonehenge  of  the  Druids,  or  the 
complete  Druid  Temple. — IV.  Phcnician,  Grecian,  and  Belgic  Temples — the  Barrom — 
Concliifion. 

f 

THIS  period  might  be  rendered,  perhaps,  peculiarly  intereftlng,  from  an  extenfivg 
fun^ey  of  the  Britiih  Architefture  :  But  the  nature  of  the  work  obliges  me  to  con- 
traft  my  views  within  a  very  narrow  circle.  For  the  prefent  fubjeft,  I  propole,  firft,  to 
confider  the  houfes  and  towns  of  the  Danmon  ans,  curforily  ini'pe<5llng  both  their  ci'vil 
and  military  buildings  ;  and  fecondly,  to  notice  their  religious  lli'uftures. 

With  relpeft  to  the  arehitefture  of  the  Danmonians,  nothing  can  be  advanced  with 
certainty.  The  Greek  and  Roxnan  writers  obferved  the  arts  and  manners  of  the  ancient 
Britons  lb  fuperficially,  or  received  luch  vague  and  falfe  accounts  of  the  Britiili  iilanders 
from  others,  that  I  cannot  recur  to  thofe  authors  with  any  degree  of  conJidence,  Diodo- 
rus  Siculus  informs  as,  that  the  Britons  dwelt  in  houies  conftrufted  with  wood,  and 
covered  with  fti-aw.  And,  in  regard  to  their  form,  Dio  calls  the  Britiili  houfes  o->cr,va:i ; 
and  Zomaras  («)  makes  Caraftacus  call  them  a-y.^vioia..  Mr.  Whitaker  defcribes  the 
houfes  of  the  Britons  as  great  round  cabins,  built  principally  of  timber,  on  foundations 
of  Hone,  and  roofed  with  a  (loping  covering  of  Ikins  or  reeds.  But  the  Britiih  houfes 
were  Ibmetimes  conflrufted  in  a  dill'erent  form — not  rounded,  but  nearly  Iquared,  and 
containing  about  fixteen  yards  by  twelve  within.  Such,  at  leaft,  as  Mr.  Whitaker  informs 
ns,  was  the  ground-work  of  a  building  which  was  difcovered  within  Caltlefield,  in  1766, 
and  laid  in  a  manner  that  befpoke  it  to  be  Britiih.  About  half  a  yard  below  the  fuiface 
of  the  ground,  was  a  line  of  large  irregular  blocks  ;  and  under  it  were  three  layers  of 
common  paving  Hones,  not  compared  together  widi  mortar,  but  with  the  rude  and  pri- 
mitive cement  of  clay.  (Z))  Thus  the  houies  in  the  weltern  illes  of  Scotland,  to  this  day, 
are  built  of  Ifone  and  cemented  with  earth.  Axid  the  fame  fort  of  foundation  has  been 
dilcovered  about  thole  huge  obelifks  of  the  Britons,  near  Aldborough  iuYorklhire,  which 
are  fo  fimilar  to  the  itones  ereited  frequently  without  their  circular  temples.  As  to  their 
materials,  the  Britiih  dwellings  mail  have  fomewhat  varied,  according  to  their  lituations. 
In  the  neighbourhood  of  Dartmoor,  for  inftance,  their  walls,  probably,  confiited  of  gra- 
nite; and  near  the  Denyball  quarry,  they  were  roofed,  perhaps,  if  not  entirely  built  with 
flate.  (<r).  Such  is  the  cafe  at  tlie  prelent  day.  Though  cob-walls  are  generally  preferred 
in  Devon  and  Cornwall,  yet  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Denyball-quarry,  and  along  the  north 
coail  of  Cornwall,  the.  cottages  of  the  meiyiell  pea!ants  are  chiefly  conftruded  with  (late. 
The  Danmonians  dwelt,  alio,  in  caverns.  In  tl:e  mean  time,  we  are  not  to  imagine, 
that  the  Danmoaians  could  boa(t  no  ftruftures  (uperior  to  the  habitations  I  have  de('cri- 
bed.     The  houies  I  have  noticed  were  tliole  only  of  the  people  in  general :  And,  tlxere 

{a)   Bafil.  1 557.  p.  iZk. 

{b)  Mr.  Wlii taker  thinks,  that  th\if<juare  houfr,  at  Manchefter,  was  rather  for  the  cattle  of  th« 
Britons ;  fince  "  die  Britifh  houfes  were  roomy  buijdings,  of  a  round  form,  and  covered  with  a  con- 
vex roof." 

{c)  In  Britiih,  Sglatia, 

•vfas» 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  39 

vfas,  doubtre(s-,  agreat  diftinftion  between  the  dwellings  of  the  chiefs  and  the  villains.  The 
Lord's  manfion  was,  as  our  fuperltir  houfes  remained  in  the  lall  century,  all  conftrufted  of 
wood,  on  a  foundation  of  ftone  ;  was  one  ground  llory  ;  and  compoled  a  large  oblong  and 
Iquarifh  court.  A  confiderable  part  of  it  was  taken  up  by  the  apartments  of  fuch  as  were 
letained  more  immediately  in  the  fervice  of  the  feignior.  And  the  reit,  which  was  more 
particularly  his  own  liabitation,  confifted  of  one  great  and  feveral  Little  rooms  :  In  the 
grsat  room  was  his  armoury  j  the  weapons  of  his  fathers,  the  gifts  of  friends,  and  Ipoils 
of  enemies,  being  difpofed  in  order  along  the  walls.  Such  is  the  dwelling  of  the  chieftaia 
in  the  Scotiifh  illes.  And  as  the  firft  clafs  of  the  nobility,  the  Druids  were  furely  pro- 
vided wkh  more  commodious  habitations  than  are  generally  affigned  them.  It  is  com- 
monly imagined  that  the  houfes  of  the  Druids  were  mere  excavations  in  the  rocks,  or 
little  Hone  cabins,  kich  as  are  to  be  feen,  at  this  moment,  in  the  Scottifh  ifles,  and  wliich 
tradition  has  confecrated  to  the  Druids.  The  ftructures  to  which  I  allude,  are  called 
Tig-the-nan-DniiJh.  They  confill  of  a  few  large  unwrought  ftones,  piled  up  in  the  (im- 
plell  manner,  without  lime  or  mortar ;  and  they  are  capable  only  of  holding  a  fmgle  per- 
son. I  Ipeak  not  of  accommodation — even  the  peafants  on  the  fkirts  of  Dartmoor,  would 
difdain  thefe Druid  houfes.  In  ihojt,  whilil  I  aflent  to  the  opinion,  that  the  little  buildings 
in  queltion  were  Druidical,  llippofmg  them  to  be  Sacella,  to  which  the  common  people 
reforted  for  various  religious  purpoles,  I  conceive  that  the  family- feats  of  tlie  Druids  were 
edifices  as  large  and  as  convenient  as  any  in  the  Britiih  period.  Yet,  the  common  people 
rellded  in  meaner  houfes  or  in  caves.  And  the  dwellings  of  the  vulgar,  numerous  in 
comparifon  to  thofe  of  the  chiefs,  met  the  eye  in  every  direction  :  Hence  the  defcriptions 
of  Britiili  houfes  in  ancient  wri>.ers  are,  for  the  moft  part,  taken  from  thefe  rude  habita- 
tions. For  the  fituation  of  the  Danmonian  houfes,  we  have  to  remark,  that  the  feat  of 
the  Chieftain  was  fometimes  lixed  on  the  fummit  of  a  hill,  but  more  commonly  in  tht 
hollow  of  a  valley,  either  on  the  margin  of  one  rtream,  or  at  the  confluence  of  two.  This 
latter  mode  of  building,  for  lecurity  from  winds  and  conveniency  of  water,  continued 
alraoii  to  the  prefent  day.  The  faOiion  of  this  moment  has  a  particular  regard  to  prof- 
peft.  ereiting  houfes  on  eminences  that  overlook  the  furro\mding  plantations,  and  com- 
mani  ail  the  neighbouring  country.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  Chieftain's  feat,  were  built 
the  different  cottages  of  his  tenants,  eithex  on  the  ilope  of  the  hill,  or  along  the  margin 
of  a  river  that  purfued  the  courle  of  the  winding  combe.  From  this  coUeftion  of  houfes, 
&11 1'ubordinate  to  the  gre;it  houi'e,  originated  the  Britidi  town  :  and  the  inferior  houLes 
were  fo  placed  as  reciprocally  to  guard  each  other,  whillt  they  Itood  under  the  immediate 
command  of  the  chief  manfion  :  So  that,  on  a  military  view,  the  clanfhip  was  a  fortified 
town,  with  a  calUe  to  defend  it.  And,  indeed,  the  firft  towns  of  the  Britons  have  gene- 
rally been  delcribed  as  mere  fortrefles  or  llrong  holds.  They  were  not  fcenes,  we  are 
told(«),  of  regular  and  general  refidence.  They  were  only  places  of  refuge  aniidll  the 
dangers  of  war,  where  the  Britons  might  occalionally  lodge  their  wives,  children,  and 
cattle  }  and  the  weaker  refill  the  ftronger  till  fuccours  could  arrive.  This  was  more  par- 
ticularly the  cafe  with  the  caves  of  the  Danmonii,  which  are  certainly  to  be  regarded  in 
a  military  light.  Of  fuch  caverns  we  have  many  inllances  in  Damnonium,  partly,  per- 
haps, natural,  and  partly  artificial.  That  thel'e  caverns  were  places  of  temporarv'  refidence 
in  the  time  of  war,  whither  the  Danmonii  retired,  for  the  fecurity  of  their  perfons,  their 
domeftic  furniture,  and  their  warlike  ftores,  I  fliould  judge  not  only  from  tlie  difpofition 
of  the  Aborigines  ib  congenial  with  the  oriental  turn  of  mmd,  but  from  the  refemblance, 
alfo,  of  our  Danmonian  excavations  to  thole  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  which  are  allowed 
to  be  military  retreats.  But,  whatever  was  their  ufe,  they  were  very  fimilar  to  the  caves 
of  the  eaftern  nations,  and  efpecially  of  Armenia.  Before,  however,  we  enter  into  par- 
ticulars, it  may  be  neceifary  to  complete  our  fketch  of  the  Britifli  fortified  town.  The 
fortrefs  in  which  the  chief  refided,  was  the  principal  military  work  in  every  clanfhip  t 
It  was  a  faftnefs  ftrengthened  by  confiderable  outworks.  Yet,  from  its  fcite  on  the  fide 
of  a  hill  (and  fometimes  in  a  valley)  it  was  by  no  means  equal  to  the  command  of  the 
neighbouring  country,  and  confequently  fubjcrd  to  furprize  from  an  enemy,  If  it  itood 
independent  and  unconnefted  with  any  otlier  work.  We  may  naturally  place,  tlierefore, 
Ibnie  work  on  the  brow  of  the  hill ;  fuch  as  a  watch-tower  or  beacon,  whence  the  approach 
of  an  enemy  might  be  obferved,  and  an  alarm  might.be  given  to  the  clanfhip.  Such  x 
ftrufture  might  alio  be  ufeful  in  communicating  with  another  of  a  like  nature,  which  be- 

{a)  Caefar  and  Tacitus. 

longreJ 


40  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

longed  to  a  (econd  cl:ui,  and  in  thus  fpreading  fuch  intelligence  from  town  to  town ;  (a 
that  all  the  cantreds,  and  in  Ihort  the  whole  kingdom  of  Danmonium,  might  be  almoft 
iulLantaneoudy  apprized  of  a  hollile  attack.  A  beacon  then,  it  fliould  Teem,  belonged  to 
every  clanlhip  or  town  in  Danmonium  ;  fometimes  placed  on  the  natural  hill,  and  fome- 
times  on  an  artificial  mount  of  earth  or  llone,  where  the  brow  of  the  hill  was  not  fuffi- 
eiently  commanding.  Not  only  the  high  antiquity  of  beacons,  in  various  countries,  but 
tlie  frequent  veftiges  of  ruinous  beacons  in  Danmonium,  in  fituations  exaftly  adapted  to 
the  purpoles  I  have  mentioned,  may  afl'ure  us  of  this  fiiS:.  But  artificial  mounts  were 
at  firll,  perhaps,  thrown  up  by  the  Aborigines  with  a  different  view  :  They  were,  pro- 
bably, railed  as  m;u-ks  of  the  progrefs  of  colonization.  An  ingenious  correl'pondent  (rt) 
has  obferved,  "  that  the  great  marks  of  an  Afiatic  croiTing  the  Euxine  fea,  are  to  be 
traced  out  in  our  modern  maps,  through  Moldavia  and  Germany,  into  Britain,  by  the 
landwears  or  divlfions,  fuch  as  that  at  Lexden-lieath,  in  Efl'ex ;  and  that  another  veftige 
is  in  the  mounts,  or  tumuli,  fuch  as  Silbury  in  Wiltfliire,  and  the  Grange  Barrow  in 
Ireland."  Thus  the  Afiatic  emigrants  into  this  ifland,  probably,  erefled  mounts  in  the 
vicinity  of  every  new  habitation,  as  they  proceeded  in  colonizing  Danmonium.  But 
thefe  mounts,  becoming  ufelefs  as  colonial  landmarks,  muft  have  been  foon  eftranged 
from  their  original  deitination,  and  adopted  for  militaiy  purpoles,  originally,  I  conceive, 
for  fire-beacons.  In  the  mean  time,  to  finilh  the  whole,  a  road  from  one  town  to  ano- 
tlier.  was  ablblutsly  requifite.  It  would  be  vain  to  diffufe  alarms  over  Danmonium,  by 
the  beacon-fires,  if  there  were  no  roads  from  fortreis  to  fortrefs — if  the  whole  of  the 
intervening  Ipaces  were  ftill  overhung  with  thick-branching  trees,  and  overgrow'n  with 
briars  or  coppice.  In  this  cal'e,  every  town  would  have  been  in  a  manner  infulated ;  and, 
though  with  difficulty  approached  by  an  enemy,  yet,  when  invaded,  mult  have  long 
trufted  to  itlelf,  before  any  liiccours  could  arrive.  A  road,  therefore,  was  foon  ftruck 
out  from  one  town  to  another,  for  the  convenient  intercourfe  of  the  different  clans.  If 
we  imagine,  then,  a  ftrong  vianfion-hci'fe  built  on  the  fide  of  a  hill,  and  a  clufter  oi  infe- 
rior habitations  riling  on  the  bank  of  a  river,  immediately  under  the  eye  of  the  fortrefs, 
and  a  read  winding  through  the  valley,  and  floping  away  till  it  gains  the  higher  grounds, 
and  a  beacon  on  the  natural  or  artificial  eminence  overlooking  die  whole,  and  command- 
i.ng  the  circumjacent  country,  we  may  conceive  a  tolerable  idea  of  a  Briirifh  town  as  re- 
prefented  in  its  primjeval  rudenefs.  Tims  have  I  exhibited  a  rough  draught  of  an  infant 
Britijh  toi'.-n,  both  in  a  ci-vil  and  niiUtary  light,  according  to  the  vulgar  idea  of  the  towns 
of  the  Britons.  That  there  are,  at  this  day,  relics  of  fuch  habitations  and  military  works 
as  I  have  delineated,  on  the  hills  or  amidlt  the  combes  and  cliffs  of  Danmonium,  would 
appear  without  much  labor  of  inveftigation.  Of  the  round  houfes  of  the  Britons  which 
I  firft  noticed,  Dartmoor,  perhaps,  might  furnifli  us  with  fome  remains.  There  are  a 
great  number  of  round  Itruclures  ftattered  over  this  extenfive  moor.  They  are  built 
with  ftone,  and,  in  general,  reiemble  the  Britilh  houfe  in  their  dimenfions,  as  well  as  the 
rotundity  of  their  form.  But,  unfortunately,  they  are  all  roofleis :  The  Ijare  walls  only 
remain  ;  and'thefe  walls  are,  for  the  moll  part,  in  a  very  ruinous  condition.  Towards 
Wliifton's  wood,  thefe  houles  feem  to  be  in  a  lei's  dilapidated  ftate.  And  here,  as  in  feve- 
ral  other  places  on  the  moor,  they  lie  contiguous  to  each  other ;  fo  as  to  fuggeft  the  idea 
cf  a  village  or  town.  The  common  notion  is,  that  they  were  erefted  to  fecure  the  flocks 
and  herds  of  the  Danmonians,  againll  wolves  and  other  wild  beafts  which  infefted  the 
country.  But  a  great  part  of  Dartmoor,  was  probably  peopled  in  ancient  times  :  And 
tradition  concurs  with  probability,  in  feithng  this  opinion.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Ikirts  of  the  foreft,  relate,  as  a  certain  isiX,  which  their  fathers  had  told  them,  that  "  the 
hill-countiy  was(A)  peopled,  whilft  the  vallies  were  full  of  lerpents  and  ravenous  beails.'" 
The  foreft,  undoubtedly,  abounded  with  trees  :  And,  as  the  Britons  invariably  preferred 
the  woods  to  the  plains,  there  is  no  doubt  but  they  ere6ted  many  fortreffes  on  the  fylvan 
heights  of  Dartmoor.  Indeed,  the  round  walls  I  have  juft  noticed,  admitting  that  they 
were  mere  pens  for  flocks,  would  tend  to  prove  the  inhabitation  of  Dartmoor ;  fince  the 
Britons,  like  the  Arabs,  had  always  apartments  for  their  cattle  near  their  own.  In 
Whifton's  wood,  then,  and  in  the  ruinous  cabins  around  it,  we  may  contemplate  the 

[a)  Col-mel  Simcoe,  now  Governor  of  Quebec. 

\b)  Peopled  "  by  clrijilam'"  (an  old  man  infomicd  me)  meaning  humen  be'ir.p.    "  The  bottoms' 
(cr  th«  low-grounds)  he  faid,  were  all  flime :"  And  lie  had  a  ftrange  notion  of  winged  ferpents. 

fading 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  4» 

fading  features  of  a  Danmonian  cl3nflilp.(<?)  But,  as  the  Danmonians  fometimes  refided 
in  caves,  let  us  look,  alio,  to  their  rock  recefles,  in  Devon  and  Cornwall.  The  cave  in 
the  rock  near  Chudleigh,  has  been  already  defcribed  as  a  n:itural  hollow.  Yet  it  feems 
to  be  as  well  formed  for  the  purpofe  of  concealment  in  time  of  war,  as  feveral  of  the 
Danmonian  excavations,  which  are  evidently  artiricial.  Kent's  Hole,  which  has  alio 
been  defcribed,  v.'ould  furnifh  a  Me  afylum  in  time  of  war.  About  two  miles  to  the 
S.  W.  of  Berrjdiead,  there  is  a  remarkable  hole  in  the  rock  under  Darle  point:  And 
the  remains  of  a  mound,  or  old  wall,  are  to  be  feen  on  that  promontory,  about  a  mile 
S.  E.  of  Brixham.  J  nit  within  the  Bolt-head,  at  the  well  end  of  Salcombe-bar,  is  a 
fubterraneous  palTage,  called  Bull-hole,  which,  the  common  people  have  an  idea,  runs 
quite  under  the  earth  to  another  fuch  place  in  a  creek  of  the  fea,  called  Sewer-mill,  at 
three  miles  dillance.  The  tradition  is,  that  a  bull  fliould  enter  it  at  one  end,  and 
come  out  at  the  other.  How  far  thele  two  caverns  are  really  the  fame,  has  never  been 
determined  ;  none  of  thofe  who  have  entered  them  having  had  the  refolution  to  proceed 
iufficiently  far  to  afcertain  the  faft.  On  the  eaft  fide  of  the  parifh  of  South  Huilh,  is  an 
entrenchment  on  the  declivity  of  a  hill,  but  verj'  near  the  fummit,  facing  the  north. 
About  twenty  yaj-ds  in  the  rear  of  this  entrenchment  (which  will  be  defcribed  in  its  pro- 
per place)  a  walled  cave  was  difcovered  a  few  years  fmce  :  The  farmer  who  made  this 
difcovery,  dug  up  the  foundation  of  it.  It  was  about  twenty  feet  long,  feven  or  eight 
feet  broad,  and  ten  or  twelve  feet  deep  :  but  nothing  was  found  in  the  cavern.  On  the 
weft  fide  of  the  village  of  Lower  Torr,  and  near  the  river  Yalm,  is  a  cavern  in  a 
mai'ble  rock.  The  entrance  is  by  a  long  narrow  cleft  j  but,  as  we  advance,  it  becomes 
more  Ipacious,  and  goes  near  two  hundred  feet  under  the  rock.  The  country-people 
have  a  tradition,  alio,  relating  to  this  cavern.  And  they  believe,  as  they  were  taught 
by  their  fathers,  that  from  this  cavern  a  way  paiTed  under  the  river  to  the  church  of 
Yalmton,  which  ftands  about  two  or  three  hundred  yards  diftant,  on  high  ground,  to 
the  north.  The  cavern  difcovered  about  twenty  years  ago,  on  the  weft  fide  of  the  Haw, 
at  Plymouth,  and  looking  into  Mill-Bay,  was  partly,  perhaps,  an  avtiiicLal  work  of  the 
ancient  Britons.  As  I  have  but  flightly  mentioned  it  in  my  fketch  of  the  natural  hiftory, 
I  fiiall  here  give  a  particular  defcription  of  this  fubteixaneous  abode.  This  cave  was 
accidentally  laid  open  by  fome  miners,  in  blowing  up  a  contiguous  rock  of  marble.  The 
aperture  difclofed  by  the  explofion,  Avas  about  four  feet  in  diameter,  and  looked  not 
unlike  a  hole  bored  with  an  auger.  It  was  covered  with  a  broad  flat  ftone,  cem.ented 
with  lime  and  fand  ;  and,  twelve  feet  above  it,  the  ground  feemed  to  have  been  made 
Vvith  rubbilli  brought  thither,  perhaps  for  the  purpofe  of  concealment.  Here  was, 
doubtlefs,  fome  appearance  of  art,  and  veftige  of  mafonry.  The  hill  itiblf,  at  the  north- 
em  fide  of  wliich  this  vault  was  found,  confifts,  for  the  moft  part,  of  marble.  From  the 
mouth  of  this  cave  (through  which  we  defcend  by  a  ladder)  to  the  firft  bafe,  or  landing- 
place,  are  t\vent}'-fix  feet.  At  this  bafe  is  an  opening,  bearing  N.  W.  by  W.  which 
refembles  a  tent,  ftretcliing  up'ivards  fomewhat  pyramidically,  to  an  invifible  point. 
Hence  it  was  called  Teat-Ca-je.  It  is  about  ten  feet  high,  feven  broad,  and  twenty- 
two  long ;  though  there  is  an  opening  v.-hich,  on  account  of  its  narrownefs,  could  not 
well  be  excmiined,  and  which,  probably,  hath  a  dangerous  flexure.  In  each  fide  of 
this  Tent-Cav^  is  a  cleft:  the  right  runs  horizontally  inwards  ten  feet;  the  left  mea- 
fures  fix  by  four.  The  fides  of  the  cave  are,  every  where,  deeply  and  uncouthly  in- 
dented, and  iiere  and  there  ftrengthened  with  ribs  naturally  formed,  which,  placed 
at  a  due  diftance  from  each  other,  give  fome  idea  of  fluted  pillars  as  in  old  churches. 
In  a  direct  line  from  this  cave,  to  the  oopofite  point,  is  a  road  thirty  feet  long.  The 
defcent  is  deep  and  rugged — the  road  is  ftrongly  but  rudely  arched  over ;  and  many  holes 
on  both  fides  are  to  be  feen,  but  being  verj^  narrow  do  not  admit  of  minute  examination. 
Having  fcrambled  down  this  deep  defcent,  we  arrive  at  a  natural  arch  of  gotlic-Hke 
ftruilure,  which  is  four  feet  from  fide  to  fide,  and  fix  feet  high.  Here  fome  petrifactions 
are  feen  depending.  On  the  right  of  this  arch,  is  an  opening  like  a  funnel,  into  which 
a  flender  perfon  might  creep  :  On  the  left  is  another  ccrreipondent  funnel,  the  ccuri'e  of 
which  is  oblique,  and  the  end  unknown.  Beyond  this  gothic  pile,  is  a  large  (p::ce,  to 
■which  the  arch  is  an  entrance.  This  fpace,  or  inner-room,  is  eleven  feet  long,  ten  broad, 

{a)  Not  but  a  part  of  Dartmoor  might  have  been  wafte,  where  the  lords  of  the  neighbouring;  clans 
had  a  right  of  comaion,  and  where  flocks  and  herds  v>?ere  paflured,  at  particular  feafons,  under  the 
^^re  of  fhepherds  and  herdfrne.i. 

Voi,.  I.  f  twenty- 


^  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

twenty-five  high  :  Its  fides  have  many  large  excavations  :  And  here  two  colurnns,  which 
feem  to  be  a  mals  of  petrifaftion,  projeft  confiderably.  On  the  furfaces  of  thofe  pillars 
below,  are  feen  fome  faniaftic  ijrotviberaiices,  and  on  the  hanging  roofs  above,  fome 
chr)--llal  drops  thit  have  been  petrified  in  their  progrels.  Between  the  columns,  is  a  chafm 
capable  of  couMining  three  or  four  men.  Returning  from  this  room,  we  perceive,  on 
the  left  h.md,  an  avenue  thirty  feet  long,  naturally  floored  with  clay,  and  vaulted  with 
ftone.  It  bears  S.  S.  W.  and,  before  \yc  jiav-e  crept  through  it,  we  fee  a  paflage  of  very 
dirticult  accei's.  It  run?  forward  twenty-five  feet,  and  opens  over  the  vault  thirty  feet 
high,  near  a  very  large  well.  Oppofite  to  this  paifage  are  two  caverns,  both  on  the  right 
hand.  The  firlt  bears  N.  W.  by  Wl  and  running  forward  in  a  ftraight  line,  about 
twenty  feet,  forms  a  cave  that  verges  fomewhat  to  the  N.  E.  Here  we  walk  and  creep 
in  a  winding  courfe,  from  cell  to  cell,  till  we  are  ftooped  by  a  well  of  water,  the  breadth 
and  depth  of  which  are  not  fully  known.  This  wmding  cavern  is  three  feet  wide,  in 
fome  p.aits,  five  feet  high,  in  fome,  eight.  On  our  return  to  the  avenue,  we  find  adjom- 
ing  to  this  cavern,  but  feparated  by  a  mafiy  partition  of  Hone,  the  fecond  cavern,  in  a 
wellern  direfrion  :  And,  by  defcending  fome  fmall  piles  of  lime-ftone,  or  rather  broken 
rocks,  the  bottom  here  being  (lielving  ilate  (or,  more  properly,  a  combination  of  flate  and 
lime-ftone)  we  difcover  another  well  of  water.  This  is  the  largeft.  The  depth  of  it  is, 
in  one  place,  twenty-three  feet,  the  width  uncertain.  Oppofite  to  this  well,  on  the  left 
hand,  by  mounting  over  a  fmall  ridge  of  rocks,  covered  with  wet  and  Aippery  clay,  we 
enter  a  vault  eight  feet  broad,  eighteen  long,  thii-ty  high.  Here,  towards  the  S.  E.  a 
road,  not  eafy  of  alcent,  runs  upwards  of  leventy-two  feet  towards  the  furface  of  the 
earth,  and  lb  near  to  it,  that  the  found  of  the  voice,  or  of  a  mallet  within,  might  be  dif- 
tinftly  he.ard  without — in  confequence  of  which  a  very  large  opening  has  been  made  into 
it.  At  tiie  bottom  of  this  vault,  in  a  place  not  readily  obferved,  is  another  well  of  water; 
the  depth  of  which,  on  account  of  its  fituation,  cannot  be  eafily  fathomed,  nor  the 
breadth  of  it  afcertained.  Each  cavern  has  its  arch  ;  and  each  arch  is  ftrong.  The  way 
to  the  largeft  well  is,  in  one  part,  roofed  with  foiid  and  fmootli  ftone,  not  unlike  the  arch 
of  an  oven.  It  is  very  likely  that  the  hill  itfelf  is  hollow — Some  of  the  caverns  have 
reciprocal  communications ;  but  the  clefts  are  often  too  narrow  for  accurate  infpe^lion. 
The  water,  here  and  there,  is  ftill  dripping;  and  incruftations,  ufual  in  fuch  grottos,  in 
fome  places  coat  the  furface  of  the  walls.  There  are  fome  whimfical  likenefles,  which  it 
wo\ild  be  difficult  to  delineate. — In  the  pariih  of  Shepftor,  riles  that  ftcep  high  hill,  full 
of  moorftone  (with  which  the  whole  couiury  abounds,  lying  on  the  edge  of  Dartmoor) 
called  Shepjhr-Torr.  Among  the  rocks,  towards  the  top,  is  a  fmall  cleft,  opening  within 
to  a  wider  room.  From  this  place,  the  inhabitants  of  the  cavern  might  command  the 
whole  country.  The  country-people  have  many  fuperftitious  notions  of  this  hole.  "  Ini 
the  tenement  of  Bolleit,  in  the  parifh  of  St.  Berian,  at  the  end  of  a  little  inclofure,  is  a 
cave,  called  the  Fogou  :  Its  entrance  is  about  four  feet,  high  and  wide.  The  cave  goes 
ftraight  forward,  nearly  of  the  fame  width  as  the  entrance,  ieven  feet  high,  and  thirty-fix 
from  end  to  end.  About  five  feet  from  the  entrance,  there  is  on  the  left  hand,  a  hole  two 
feet  wide,  and  one  foot  fix  inches  high,  within  which  there  is  a  cave  four  feet  wide,  and 
four  feet  fix  inches  high.  It  goes  nearly  eaft  about  thirteen  feet,  then  to  the  fouth  five 
feet  more ;  the  fides  and  end  faced  with  ftone,  and  the  roof  covered  with  large  flat  ftones. 
At  the  end  fronting  the  entrance,  is  another  fquare  hole,  within  which  there  was  alfo  a 
further  vault,  now  ftopt  up  with  ftones,  through  which  we  perceive  the  light.  And 
here,  muft  have  been  a  paflage  for  light  and  air,  if  not  a  back  way  of  conveying  things 
into  and  out  of  thefe  cells.  This  cave  is  about  a  furlong  dift?nt  from  the  village  of  Bol- 
leit: And,  indeed,  the  ground  is  fo  level  above  and  each  fide  of  it,  that  no  one  would 
Jfufpe(5l  there  was  a  cave  below,  but  for  the  entrance.  There  is  a  cave  of  the  fame  name, 
in  the  parifh  of  St.  Eval,  near  Padftow.  In  the  tenement  of  Bodinar,  in  the  parifli  of 
Sancred,  fomewhat  higher  than  the  prefent  village,  is  a  fpot  of  ground,  amounting  to  no 
more  than  half  an  acre  of  land  (formerly  much  larger)  full  of  irregular  heaps  of  ftones, 
overgrown  with  heath  and  brambles.  It  is  of  no  regular  fliape  ;  neither  has  it  any  vefti- 
ges  of  fortification.  In  the  fouthern  part  of  this  plot,  we  may,  with  fome  difficulty,  enter 
into  a  hole,  faced  on  each  fide  with  a  ftone  wall,  and  covered  with  flat  ftones.  Great 
part  of  the  walls,  as  well  as  covering,  aie  fallen  into  the  cave,  which  does  not  run  in  a 
fti-aight  line,  but  turns  to  the  left  hand,  at  a  finall  diftance  from  the  place  where  I  entered 
l^fays  Borlafe)  and  feems  to  have  branched  itfelf  out  much  farther  than  I  could  then  trace 
}t,  which  did  not  exceed  twenty  feet.  It  is  about  five  feet  high,  and  as  much  in  width, 
v,   •• -  •  callc^ 


The    BRITISH   PERIOD.  ^j 

called  the  Giant's  Holt,  and  has  no  other  ufe,  at  prefent,  than  to  frighten  and  appeafe 
froward  childi'en.  As  the  hedges  round  are  very  thick,  and  near  one  another,  and  tlie 
inclofures  extremely  fmall,  I  imagine  theie  ruins  were,  formerly,  of  much  greater  extent, 
and  have  been  removed  into  the  hedges  ;  the  ftones  of  which  appearing  fizeable,  and  as 
if  they  had  been  ufed  in  malbnry,  feem  to  confirm  the  conjcfture.  Poflibly,  here  might 
be  a  large  Britijh  to--wn  (as  I  have  been  informed  Mr.  Tonkin  thought)  and  this  cave 
might  be  a  private  way,  to  enter  or  ially  out  of  it :  But  the  walls  are  every  where  crufhed 
down,  and  nothing  regular  is  to  be  ken.  I  will  only  add,  that  this  cave  or  under-ground 
paffage,  was  i'o  well  concealedy  that  though  I  had  vifited  it  in  the  year  1738,  yet,  when  I 
came  again  to  fee  it,  in  1752,  I  was  a  long  while  before  I  could  hnd  it.  Of  all  the  arti- 
ficial caves  I  have  leen  in  Cornwall,  Pendeen  Vau  (by  the  Welfli  pronounced  Fau")  \i 
the  moft  entire  and  curious.  It  confills  of  three  caves  or  galleries  :  The  entrance  is  four 
feet  fix  inches  wide,  and  as  many  high,  walled  on  each  fide  with  large  ftones,  with  a  rude 
arch  on  the  top.  From  the  entrance  we  defcend  fix  Jieps,  and  advance  to  the  N.  N.  E. 
the  floor  dipping  all  the  way.  This  firll  cave  is  twenty-eight  feet  long.  The  fides  and 
roof  of  the  fecond  cave,  are  fonned  in  the  fame  manner  as  thofe  of  the  firft — the  fides, 
the  fame  diftance,  but  the  roof  only  five  feet  fix  inches  high.  Through  a  fquare  hole, 
two  feet  wide,  and  tvvo  feet  fix  inches  high,  v.e  creep  into  a  third  cave,  fix  feet  wide  and 
fix  feet  high — neither  fides  nor  roof  faced  with  Itone,  but  the  whole  dug  out  of  the  natu- 
ral ground  ;  the  fides  formed  regularly  and  ftraight,  and  the  arch  of  the  roof  a  femicircle. 
We  fee  nothing  of  this  cave,  either  in  the  fieUi  or  garden,  till  -xve  come  to  the  mouth  of  it  j 
as  much  privacy  as  pofiible  being  confulted."(«)  In  the  ides  of  Scotland,  and  in  Ireland 
(to  which  I  refort,  as  originall)!  peopled  like  Danmonium,  by  Afiatic  colonies)  there 
are  a  great  number  of  artificial  caverns.  In  the  ille  of  Skie,  are  feveral  little  ftone 
houfes,  huilt  under-ground,  called  earth-houfes,  "  which  ferve  to  hide  a  few  people,  and 
their  goods,  in  the  time  of  war. "(^0  I^i  the  ifle  of  Ila,  there  is  a  large  cave,  called  Vag- 
Vearnag,  or  Man's-Cave,  which  ^vill  hold  two  hundred  men.  And  there  are  many  fuch 
caves  in  Ireland ;  not  only  under  mounts,  forts,  and  caftles,  but  under  plain  fields ;  fome 
■winding  into  little  liills  aiid  rifings,  like  a  volute,  or  ram's  hoin ;  others  running  zig-zag ; 
others  again  right  forward,  conne61;ing  cell  with  cell.  That  the  Afiatics,  from  whofe 
country  the  Danmonians  are  fuppoled  to  have  emigrated,  "  made  them  the  dens  v.-hich 
are  in  the  mountains,  and  caves,  and  ftrong  holds," (<^)  is  e/ident,  both  from  facred 
and  profane  hiftory.  There  is  a  remarkable  paffage  in  Xenophon,(i/)  defcribing  the 
caves  of  the  Armenians.  Xeuophon  informs  us,  "  that  the  houfes  of  the  Armenians  were 
under-gi'ound — that  the  mouth  or  entrance  to  thefe  fubterraneous  habitations  was  like  that. 
of  a  'well,  but  that  underneath,  they  were  ivide  and  fpreading — that  there  were  ways  for 
the  cattle  to  enter,  but  that  the  men  n.vent  dovjn  by  fairs.'"  In  Armenia,  at  this  day, 
the  people  dwell  in  caverns.  "  In  a  narrow  valley  (fays  Leonhaut  Pvauwolf )  lying  at  fhe 
bottom  of  an  afcent,  we  found  a  great  ftable,  wherein  we  went.  This  was  quite  cut 
into  the  hill :  And  fo  was  that  wherein  we  lodged  the  night  before.  So  that  you  could 
fee  nothing  of  it_,  but  only  the  entrance.  For  they  are  commonly  fo  in  thefe  hilly  coun- 
tries, under-ground,  that  the  caravans  may  fafely  reft  there,  and  defend  themfelves  from 
the  cold  in  the  winter.  This  ftable,  twenty-five  paces  long,  and  twenty  broad,  was  cut 
out  of  a  rock."  Thefe  delcriptions  of  the  Armenian  caves  agree,  in  feveral  points,  with 
that  of  the  cave  near  Plymouth,  as  well  as  the  Cornifii  caverns.  Xenophon's  cave  is  fub- 
terraneous :  So  is  that  near  Plymouth :  The  apertures  of  both  are  narrow :  And 
both  caverns  are,  aftenvards,  fufficiently  capacious.  From  luch  refemblances,  how- 
ever, I  would  by  no  means  draw  any  conclufion.  Nor,  when  I  obferve  that  the  caves 
in  Devon  (fo  like  the  under-ground  habitations  of  ^?7«<?«/'c)  are  moftly  in  the  South- 
ams,  at  no  great  diftance  from  the  river  Arme,  or  the  town  oi  Armenton,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Arme,  ^^'here  the  emigrators  from  Ai-?ncnia  are  fuppofed  to  have  firft  fettled, 
would  I  be  underftood  to  reft  my  theory  of  the  Afiatic  colonization  on  this  circum- 
ftance  ;  tliough,  I  confefs,  it  ftrikes  me  as  fingularly  curious. — Of  the  Beacons  in  Dan- 
monium, we  have  numerous  ruins  :  And  there  are  a  few  entire,  both  to  the  fouth  and 
the.  north  of  the  Jugum  Ocrinum.     In  fome  of  iliefe  beacons  (particularly  in  the  north 

{a)  Borlafe's  Antiquities,  p.  273,  274. 
{b)  Martin  of  the  Ides,  p.  154. 
\c)  Judges,  vi.  2. 
{d)  De  Exped.  Cyri.  Lib.  4, 
Vol.  I.  Fa  .  ©f 


44  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

of  Devon)  there  are  large  excavations,  not  imlike  thecaverns  I  have  juft  noticed.     Ort 
the  fouth  fide  of  the  Jugum  Ocrinum,  theie  was,  probably,  a  line  of  beacons  that  ran 
from  the  ealtern  limits  of  Danmonium  (the  country  of  the  Durotriges  or  Morini)  along 
to  the  Ocrinum  Promontorium,  its  weftern  extremity.    Membury-beacon,  near  the  ealt- 
ern limits,  would  look  far  into  Devonftiire  :  And  a  beacon  would  not  be  ulelels  at  Ax- 
bridge  ;  the  i>earings  from  which  (to  notice  prcfent  objefts)  arc  Colyton-church,  one 
mile  N.N.  W.  Shute-hill,  three  miles  N.  Mufbujy-camp,  two  miles  E.N.  E.  Axmouth- 
church,  one  mile  S.    Hogrdown-hill,  one  mile  S.  by  E.    The  bearings  from  Hogfdown- 
hill,  over  Axmouth,  are — Colyford,  one  mile  due  N.    Colyton,  a  point  to  the  VV.   Ax- 
rainfter,  lix  miles,  N.  E.    From  the  hill,  two  miles  S.  E.  of  Colyton,  w^here,  poHlbly,  was 
a  beacon — Axmovith-head,  three  miles  S.  S.E.  Axmouth-town,  two  miles  S.  E.  Combe- 
Pyne,  four  miles  E.  by  S.    Mufbury-church,  three  miles  due  E.    Axminfter-church,  fix 
miles  between  N.  E.  by  N.  and  E.  N.  N.    Shute-hill,  four  miles  N.  E.    Membury-beacon, 
between  N.E.  by  N.  andN.E.    two  little  hills   by  Beer,  two  miles  S.     The  bearings 
from  Shute-hill  by  the  beacon,  are  Axminiter,  three  miles  E.     Membury- church,  four 
miles  N.E.  by  N.     Mufbury-church,  two  miles  S.  by  E.     Old  Shute-houfe,  h.'lf-a-mile 
"W.  by  N.     Watton-Pen,  three  miles  W.S.W.     Widworthy,  two  miles  N.  W.  by  W. 
On  Sidmouth-hiil,  in  the  road  to  Salcombe,  a  beacon  might  have  been  erected  in  former 
times.     The  beai-ings  from  this  eminence  are,  Sidbuiy-caftle  N.     Bulverton-hill,  N.W. 
by  N.     Harpford-beacon,  N.  N.W.     North  end  of  Sidmouth-hill  N.  W.     Sidmouth- 
church  and  Peak-hill  W.  by  S.  the  greateft  headland  between  W.  S.  W.  and  S.W.  by  S. 
Harpford-beacon  N.N.  W.  might  correfpond  with  the  beacon  on  Sidmouth-hill.     On 
Beacon-hill,   a  paj-t  of  Blackdown,    fl;mds  a  beacon  perfe6tly  round.     Hembury  ford 
commands  a  large  trafl  of  country.     The  bearings  from  Hembury  are  Broad-hembuiy 
church,    one   mile  and  half,    N.  by  W.       Samford-Peverell   church,   fixteen   miles   N. 
N.W.  Willand-church,  fix  miles  between  N.W.  by  N.  and  N.N.W.    Haiberton-church, 
nme  miles,  between  N.\V.  and  N.  W.  by  N.     Columbton,  fix   miles  and  three-quarters 
N.W.     Bradninch,  feven  miles  W.  N.W.     Cadbur}'-caftle  and  Silverton,  twelve  miles 
W.  by  N.     Rewe,  a  little  to  the  left.     Plymtree,  three  miles  between  W.  and  W.  by  N. 
Thorverton,  twelve  miles  W.     Clift-hydon,  four  miles  W.     Broad-clift,  ten  miles  W. 
by  S.      Pehembvtry,  two  miles  W.  by  S.      Talaton,  three  miles  W.  S.W.     Streetway- 
head  S.W.     Ottery,  fix  miles  S.W.  byS.    Ottci ton-Pool,  the  fame.     Bokerel,  one  mile 
S.  S.  E.     Gittifliam,  half-a-point  more  to  the   S.     Aulefcombe,  a  mile  and  half  S.  E. 
Honiton,   three  miles,    half-a-point  more  to   the  E.      Heytorr-rocks,  thirty-five  miles 
W.S.W.      The  Obeliik  at  Mamhead,  between  S.W.  and  S.W.  by  W.   'There  was 
formerly  a  beacon  on  Warborough-hili,  in  the  parifli  of  Kenton,  where  a  fire  being  kin- 
dled, would  inilantly  communicate  with  Woodbuiy-hill,  on  the  other  fide   of  the  river 
Exe.    On  Haldon-hill,  there  were,  doubtlefs,  feveral  beacons  in  the  Britifli  Period.    The 
following  are  the  bearings  from  the  point  of  the  Roman  road,  on  Haldon,  overlooking 
Exeter.     Exeter,  fix  miles,  twenty  degrees  to  the  E.  of  N.     Whitfton-church,  due  N. 
Alphingtcn-church,  ten  degrees  E.  of  N.    Ken-ford,  a  little  to  the  call  of  Exeter.    Ken- 
church,  N.E.     Exminlter,  fifty  odd  degrees  from  N.     Top(ham,  fixty  degrees.     Pow- 
derhara,  E.     Beyond  it,  Peakhill  in  the  fmie  line.     Sidmouth-gap,  eighty  degrees  from 
N.  And  Woodbury-caftle  in  a  line  with  it.  Exmouth-point,  and  ope  of  the  river,  twenty 
degrees  S.  of  E.    On  a  hill  on  Kadway  eftate,  in  Bifhop's-teignton,  are  the  remains  of  a 
beacon.     A  lane,  called  Beacon-lane,  leads  W.  from  Hennock-village,  to  an  eminence 
that  bears  the  name  of  Halfewood-hill.     Here  ftood  a  beacon,  the  traces  of  which  were 
vifible  a  fiiort  time  fince.      In  the  Southams,  alfo,  beacons  may  be  traced ;    the  link 
between  thole  already  noticed,  and  the  beacons  on  the  Ibuthern  coafts  of  Cornwall.    The 
bearings  taken  from  Fire-beacon-hill,  on  Bozumfeale,  in  the  parifli  of  Ditfliam,  are  as 
follows  :  The  fummit  of  the  hill  by  Ivy-bridge  W.N.  W.    Brent-hill,  N.W.  by  W.    A(h- 
pririgton -church,  four  miles  N.W.    Holn-church,  N.W.  byN.    Broadhempfton-church, 
eight  miles  N.N.  W.     Totne^,  a  little  more  to  the  north,  fix  miles.     Dartington,  a  little 
more  to  the  north  of  Totnes.     Heytorr-rock  N.     Torr  and  Mary-church,  eight  miles, 
N.E.     Ditfham-church,  one  mile  N.N.  E.     Eaft-point  of  Torbay  N.  E.  by  N.     Open- 
ing of  the  harbour  of  Dartmouth  S.  S.  E.     Tunllal-church,  two  miles  S.     On  the  fkirts 
of  Dartmoor,  in  the  parilh  of  Ugborough,  are  four  vaft  heaps  of  Itones,  oval  and  conca- 
vated.     One  of  thele  is  called  Sharpitorre,  from  the  fiiape,  I  fuppofe,  of  the  eminence  on 
which  it  is  placed.     The  largefl:  and  two  lead  lie  on  the  oppofite  fide  of  a  vale,  and  are 
by  the  moor-meu  c^i^Dree-berries,  doubtlefs  ».  corruption  of  three  barro-MS..  Ou  enter- 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  45 

ing  from  the  wafte  into  the  inclofed  lands  of  Ugborough,  we  pafs  to  the  fouth,  between 
Ubber  Eaft,  and  Weft  beacons,  two  lleep  and  lofty  hills,  or  rather  rocks,  feen  far  and 
wide,  and  each  commanding  profpefts  furprizingly  extenfive.  From  the  one  may  be 
furveyed  a  confiderable  part  of  Eait  Devon,  with  the  weftem  coaft  of  Dorfet.  The  other 
(twelve  miles  diftant)  looks  down  on  Plymouth-found,  and  over  the  S.W.  of  Devon, 
deep  into  the  S.  E.  of  Cornwall  :  And,  from  both,  we  have  numberlefs  and  grand  views 
of  the  Britifli  channel.  Thus  was  the  chain  of  beacons  extended  to  the  moft  wefterly 
extremit)'  of  the  ifland.  In  the  lame  manner,  on  the  north  fide  of  the  Jugum  Ocrinura, 
there  were,  probably,  communications  through  the  whole  country  of  the  Cimbri  and  the 
Carnabii,  from  the  river  Uxalla  to  the  Antiveftxum  promontoriam.  In  the  parilh  of 
Stoodley,  there  is  a  noble  eminence,  which  tiie  Danmonians  muft  loon  have  occupied. 
From  the  centre,  where  Stoodley-beacon  was  fixed,  the  ground  rifes  gi-adually,  till  it 
com.es  to  the  inner  bank  ;  between  which  and  the  outer  bank,  there  is  a  fall  or  ditch. 
This  work  is  nearly  circular,  and  contains  about  half  an  acre,  including  the  entrench- 
ments. It  is  on  the  fummit  of  a  high  hill,  and  aifbrds  a  very  extenfive  profpeft,  efpe- 
cially  towards  the  N.  and  N.  W.  lb  that  the  Severn  fea  may  thence  be  plainly  ken.  It 
alfo  conunands  Dartmoor,  to  the  W.  and  S.  W-  But  the  profpeft  to  the  E.  and  S.  E. 
is  not  fo  extenfive  ;  nor  the  hill  fo  fteep,  on  the  E.  and  S.  as  on  the  N.  and  W.  It  is 
fituated  to  the  N.  W.  of  Stoodley-town.  About  a  furlong  N.  of  North-Molton,  is  a 
large  hill,  called  Beacon-hill,  from  the  beacon  or  light-houfe,  which  was  ftanding  not 
long  fmce.  On  the  E.  adjacent  to  this,  is  sn  open  tract  of  ground,  called  Old-Park, 
which  was  a  deer-park.  The  wall  that  incloled  it,  is  ilill  ftanding  in  fome  places ;  in 
others  it  is  to  be  traced.     In  this  plot  of  ground,  on  the  fummit  of  an  high  hill  (above 

the  level  of  the  town)  was  a  fortification.  Part  of  the  rampart  and  ditch  are  ftill  vifible 

and  through  this  park  runs  the  Mole,  in  a  line  almoil  N.  and  S.  Bratton-down,  the 
turf  of  which  is  as  fmooth  as  a  bowling-green,  and  nearly  as  level,  commands  an  exten- 
five view  of  the  country  round  ;  in  which  circular  fur^-ey  lies  Youlfton  on  the  N.W.  and 
nearer  at  hand,  Arlington;  the  tower  of  Bratton ;  Hertland-Point;  and  towards  the 
eaft,  Exmoor.  On  all  the  circumjacent  eminences,  beacons  are  difcoverable  ;  in  fome 
places  feveral  together.  And  thefe  beacons  are  in  the  form  of  barrows,  except  that  they 
are  not  conical  :  indeed,  they  have  the  cone,  as  it  were,  inverted,  and  are  hollowed  out 
in  the  middle.  Some  of  them  are  of  confiderable  magnitude,  being,  in  diameter,  no  lefs 
than  fixty  feet.  With  refpecl  to  tlie  ufe  of  thele  hollows,  there  may  be  fome  reafon  in 
the  conjeftvxre,  that,  as  intelligence  was  conveyed  from  beacon  to  beacon,  during  the 
darknefs  of  the  night,  by  means  of  fires,  inch  excavations  may  have  been  formed  to  pre- 
vent the  extinftion  of  thofe  files  tlirough  the  violence  of  the  winds — fince,  in  the  hollow, 
the  fuel  would  be  undifturbed,  and  the  flame  would  afcend  above  the  funmiit  of  the  bea- 
con, fufficient  to  anlwer  the  purpofe.  On  Berry-down,  are  feveral  tumuli,  and  a  beacon. 
And  at  High-Bickifigfon  were  ancient  beacons — whence,  indeed,  its  name  :  And  this  is  one 
of  thehigheft  fpots  in  the  whole  county  of  Devon.  The  mount  of  Torrington-caftle 
was,  probably,  a  Britifti  beacon.  And  a  beacon  on  the  liills  above  Stratton,  would  com- 
municate with  all  the  heights  along  the  northern  coaft  of  Cornwall.  To  conneft  the 
fouthern  and  the  northern  hills  of  Devon  and  Cornwall,  there  would  be  a  line  of  bea- 
cons, alfo,  along  the  Jugum  Ocrinum.  Canvfon,  one  of  the  principal  heights  of  Dartmoor, 
feems  to  have  been  formerly  a  beacon.  That  it  was  ufed  as  liich,  indeed,  is  confirmed 
by  the  tradition  of  the  country.  But  it  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  the  beacons  on 
tlie  Dartmoor  hills.  It  is  already  fufticiently  clear,  th;it  the  intelligence  of  any  invaCoii 
of  Danmonium  from  the  call,  or  on  the  fouth  or  north  coafts,  might  be  comm.unicated 
through  Devonfliire  and  Cornwall,  by  a  rapid  fuccefiion  of  beacon-fires.  And  we  find 
beacons  familiarly  in  ufe  among  the  primitive  Britons,  and  tl:e  Highlanders.  The  be- 
fieged  capital  of  one  of  our  northern  ifles,  in  the  third  century,  actually  lighted  up  a  fire 
upon  a  tower  ;  and  Fingal  inftantly  knew  "  the  green  fiame  edged  with  fmoke,"  to  be  a 
token  of  attack  and  diftrefs.  And  there  are,  to  this  da)-,  feveral  karnes  or  heaps  of  ftones, 
upon  the  heights,  along  the  coaft,  of  the  Harries,  on  which  the  inhabitants  ufcd  to  burn 
heath,  as  a  fignal  of  an  approacliing  enemy. («) 

(rt)  Ofllan,  vol.  I,  p.  198,  and  Martin's  Weftem  Iflands,  p.  35,  edit.  2.  Signals,  by  means  of 
lighted  torches,  called  (pfvx.i'ii,  or  by  fmoak,  on  the  approach  of  friends  or  enemies,  v.-ere  in  trie 
among  the  Greeks:  But  their  ufe  is  more  particularly  defcribed  in  the  Agamennonof  ^Efchylus; 
where,  by  means  of  thefe  beacons,  communicating  from  Mount  Ida,  to  the  Promontory  in  Lem- 
S^Sj  thence  to  iMoum  Athos,  and  fo  on,  Clyteneftra  receives  imraediate  notice  «f  the  taking  of  Troy. 

Here, 


46  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

Here,  according  to  the  common  ideas  of  the  towns  of  the  Britons',  at  the  iiwafion  of 
Carfar,  we  Ihould  clofe  our  views  of  the  civil  and  military  ftrucliu-es  of  Danmonium. 
Yet  there  are  fome,  who  maintaining  a  highei-  opinion  of  the  ancient  Britons,  would 
itprelent  them  in  poU'elTion  of  towns  and  cities,  laid  out  with  architeftural  (kill  on  a  far 
more  extenhve  fcale.     And  this  opinion  merits  our  confideration. 

The  idea  of  the  Britiih  forrtefs  in  the  woods  is,  undoubtedly,  juft  :  But,  amidft  the 
numerous  clanfliips,  there  were,  probably,  a  few  luperior  towns.  And,  from  the  ficill 
of  the  Britons,  in  various  arts,  we  may  prefume  that  they  were  not  unacquainted  with 
archite^ure.  That  the  Britons  were  excellent  fculptors,  feveral  figures  in  their  coins  and 
their  war-chariots  unquellionably  prove.  Can  we  hefitate,  then,  in  allowing  them  fome 
credit,  as  architefts  ?  Architedure  is  furely  more  obvious  than  fculpture.  In  the  pro- 
grefs  of  the  ai'ts,  a  convenient  houfe  mull  be  anterior  to  an  elegant  engraving  :  In  many 
countries,  the  former  is  frequent,  where  the  latter  is  unknown.  And,  indeed,  the  ufe- 
ful  arts  invariably  precede  the  ornamental.  The  Britifh  chariot  was,  doubtlels,  of  Afiatic 
invention  :  It  was  nitroduced  into  this  ifland  by  its  firlt  coloniils,  theDanmoniaiis.  Here, 
therefore,  we  fliould  naturally  look  for  arcliite<5lure  of  a  higher  defcription ;  though  we 
leave  the  GaulKh  colonies  in  quiet  polfeflion  of  their  villages  enibofomed  in  the  woods. 
As  our  fii-ft  colony  is  liippofed  to  have  come  from  the  eaft,  not  long  after  the  difperfion, 
the  facred  volume  may,  perhaps,  fuggelt  to  us  fome  hints  of  the  Britiih  architefture. 
Thofe  who  journeyed  from  the  cart,  "  found  a  plain  in  the  land  of  Shinar,  and  they 
dwelt  there.  And  they  faid,  one  to  another,  go  to — let  us  make  brlcky  and  burn  them 
thoroughl3\  And  they  had  brick  for  Itone,  and  flime  had  they  for  mortar.  And  they 
faid,  go  toilet  us  build  us  a  city  and  a  to-zver,  whole  top  may  reach  unto  heaven."  We 
may  naturally  fuppofe,  then,  that  the  aj-t  of  making  («)  bricks,  fo  well  known  to  the 
builders  of  Babel,  was  caiTied  away  at  the  difperfion  by  the  firft  colonifts  of  Danmo- 
nium. And  Devonfliire  would  readily  fupply  them  with  brick-clay.  But,  whatever 
were  the  materials  of  their  edifices,  it  is  certain  that  the  difperfed  Afiatics  had  conceived 
the  moll  magnificent  ideas  of  architecture.  They  had  planned  a  city,  and  a  tower  that 
might  reach  the  heavens.  And  the  eallern  nations  have  always  difplayed  a  greatnels  of 
ftyle  in  their  buildings.  It  is  very  improbable,  therefore,  that  the  firft  inhabitants  of 
Danmonium,  abandoning  all  their  notions  of  former  gi'andeur,  fhould  have  been  fatisfied 
with  a  little  fortrefs  in  the  woods.  That  they  dilplaycd,  indeed,  this  tafte  in  their  reli- 
gious llruftures,  will  focn  appear  :  The  monuments  of  Druidilin,  though  rude,  are  yet 
magnificent.  With  thefe  impreiTions,  let  us  vifit  a  few  Britifn  towns  in  the  leveral  can- 
treds.  Firft,  for  tlie  city  of  Exeter,  in  the  cantred  of  Ifca.  What  time  the  city  of 
Exeter  was  built,  or  who  was  its  founder,  it  is  impoilible  to  determine ;  fince  probability 
is  all  we  have  to  expect  in  thefe  obfcure  difcunions.  Izacke,  therefore,  very  ignorantly 
fays,  that  "  Exeter,  he  finds,  was  built  before  London,  e\en  at  Brute's  firft  landing  here, 
by  his  nephew  Corinasus,  on  whom  Brute  beftowed  tliis  wcftern  county,  A.  M.  2855 — 
the  fame  being  before  Chrift's  incarnation  one  thouland  one  hundred  years  and  upwards — 
and  prefently,  thereafter,  Brute  built  London,  calling  it  Troynovant."  There  was, 
affuredly,  a  Britifti  town,  of  very  high  antiquity,  on  the  banks  of  the  Exe ;  if  not  exaftly 
on  the  fcite  of  tlie  prefent  Exeter,  yet  at  no  gre.it  diftance  from  it.  In  attempting  to  fix 
the  fcite  of  the  Britiih  Exeter,  there  are  many  difficulties.  Some  name,  or  Ibme  record, 
or  both,  fliould  afcertain  the  point ;  and  tradition  fhould,  alio,  come  in  :  But  we  have 
neither  records  nor  tradition  to  aflift  our  enquiries.  (/')  We  are  left  to  the  uncertain 
guidance  of  mere  names.  Exeter  had  various  BritiHi  appellations.  That  it  was  fituatcd 
in  the  midft  of  woods,  is  evident  from  its  Britiih  nanie  Penhulgoile,  or  the  profperous  chief 
tozvn  in  the  Hx)ood.  Not  that  thefe  woods  immediately  overfliadowed  the  town.  They 
muft  have  covered  the  hills  at  diftance  ;  where  nature  purfued  "  her  horizontal  march, 
with  fweeping  train  of  foreft."  But  the  appellation  oi  P enhulgoile  is  vagjie  :  Nothing  can 
be  deduced  from  it.     One  of  the  names  of  the  Britifh  Exeter,  howevei",  points  out  the 

{a)  The  name  hfelf  is  Britifh — Bnke — plur.  BrU'mi  in  Irifli.     Whitaker. 

\h\  The  people  of  Holcombe-Eurncll,  indeed,  have  an  idle  tale  on  this  fubje^.  On  a  common 
in  Holcombe-Buinell,  is  an  old  military  work,  which  tlie  village-iiirtorians  afcribe  to  the  ancient  Bri- 
tons. They  have  a  tradition,  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  that  tlie  Britons  had 
fixed  on  this  fpot  for  the  fcite  of  tlieir  capital,  and  that  in  this  ditch  wc  trace  the  foundations  of  the 
original  Exeter  j  which,  hov/ever,  for  th*  convenience  of  water,  was  fhortly  removsd  to  its  prefent 
iituation. 

nature 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  ^y 

nature  of  the  foil  on  which  it  flood  :  And  the  word  is  Caerath,  which  fignifies,  the  cily  of 
the  red  foil.     This  the  Britons  applied  to  Exeter.     And  Rougemont,  or  the  Red-Mount 
correfponding  with  this  n:ime,  would  lead  us  to  fix  the  original  Exeter  at  Rougemont- 
Caftle,  where  the  color  of  the  whole  mound  is  deep  red.     In  the  mean  time,  the  name  of 
Ifca,  derived  from  its  river,  and  Caerijh,  the  Tvater-city,  or  the  city  on  the  river    would 
bring  the  original  town,  perhaps,  more  to  the  weft.     Mr.  Whitaker  was  inclined,  on  a 
very  curfory  view  of  Exeter,  fome  years  fmce,  to  place  the  Britifli  town  uuon  the  old 
ford.     "  The  old  ford    (fays  Mr.  Whitaker)  {a)  was  and  is,   I  think,  (lanting  over  the 
river  below  the  old  bridge.     The  high  ground,  then,  at  the  city-end  of  this  ford,  or  the 
ifland  itfelf  there,  if  not  too  much  overflowed  in  winter,  muft  be  the  fcite."     But  I  fuf- 
peft,  that  the  ifland  was  overfiowec^in  winter,  and  even  under  water  in  the  fummer  feafon. 
The  ifland,  indeed,  could  fcarcely  have  exilted  at  this  early  period,  when  the  river,  pro- 
bably,_  ftrayed  at  liberty  over  the  adjacent  valley,  confined  by  no  artificial  barriersl^  There 
is  reafon  to  fuppofe,  that  the  Exe  overflowed  all  the  low  grounds   from  the  town  to 
the  fields  under  Cowick.      It  feems,  then,  that  the  Britifli  names  of  Exeter,  tend  to 
embarrafs  the  fubjeft,  rather  than  to  clear  it  from  its  difficulties,  whilft  Caerath  direfts 
us  to  the  north,  and  Caerijl  to  the  fouth-weft  of  the  cit)\     But,  perhaps,  thefe  appella- 
tions may  be  brought  to  refleft  light  on  each  other,  if  we  conceive  the  Britifli  city  to  have 
occupied  the  whole  intermediate  fpace  between  Rougemont  and  the  Ifland.     And  indeed 
all  the  Britifli  names  of  Exeter,  ambiguous  as  they  are  with  regard  to  its  fituation,  very 
plainly  mark  its  fuperioritj'  over  the  Danmonian  towns  ;  a  diftindion,  doubtlefs,  owin? 
to  the  extent  of  its  buildings.     In  Fenhulgoile  (the  profperous  chief  tcwn  in  the  nvood) 
in  Caerath  (the  city  of  the  red.  foil)   and  Caerifk   (the  city  on  the  nvaters)  we  cannot  but 
fee  its  eminence.     And  Peucaer,  or  the  chief  city  (another  name  of  Exeter)  more  pecu- 
liarly  points  out  its  greatnefs.     The  ground-plot  of  the  Britifli  Exeter,  was  certainly  not 
fo   contrafted  as  is  generally  imagined.     Among  tlie  Brilifi  gold  coins  found  at  Karn- 
bre(Z')  in  1749,  there  is  one  remarkable  coin,  on  which  is  engnved  the  p/an  of  a  city. 
Boriafe  has  given  us  a  \'TCw  of  thofe  coins  ;(f)  and  he  thus  defcribes  the  coin  in  queftion! 
No.  XII.  has,  on  the  head,  feveral  parallel  lines,  fafliioned  into  fquares,  looking'like  the 
plan  of  a  ton.vn  ;  of  v.hich  the  ftreets  crofs  nearly  at  right  angles,  and  the  whole  is  cut  by 
one  ftraight  and  wider  ftreet  than  the  reft."     The  Do6for  aftenvards  adds  :   "  The  fio-ure 
in  the  head  of  number  XII.  has  been  before  obferved  to  refemble  the  ichno^raphy  of  a 
city,  and  was,  probably,  inferted  in  the  coin  by  the  founder,  to  record  the  ereftion  of  fome 
city  J  f.>r  that  the  Britons  had  fuch  cities  is  very  plain  from  the  noble  ruins  (a  circuit 
about  three  or  four  miles)  near  Wrottefley,  in  the  county  of  Staftbrd,  where  the  parallel 
partitions,  within  the  outwall,  whofe  foundations  are  ftill  vifible,   and  reprefent  ftreets 
running  different  ways,  put  it  out  of  doubt  that  it  muft  have  been  a  city,  and  that  of 
the  Britons."     I  am  rather  farprized,  that  Dr.  Boriafe  fliould  have  tlius  remarked  upon 
the  ground-plot  of  his  citj-,    w-ithout  venturing  to  conjefture  what   cit)^  it  was.     The 
gold-coin,  on  which  this  plan  is  exhibited,  is  evidently  a  coin  of  the  Britons.     It  re- 
prefents  a  Britiih  city :  And  it  was  found  in  Danmonium.     Is  it  not  natural  to  fuppofe 
then,  that  this  was  a  city  of  Danmonium — and,    probably,   the  metropolis  ?    This  plan 
of  the  Danmonian  citj'  muft  immediately  Ibggeft  the  idea   of  the  original  Exeter,  even 
to  thofe  who  have  never  feen  the  modern.     But,  whoever  has  vifited  the  modern  Exeter 
muft   inftantly   recognize   it  in  the  Karni;-re  coin.      It   exhibits   a  very  good  ground- 
plot  of  Exeter.     We  have  here  the  fore -ftreet,  from  eaft  to  ^^•eft,  running  throu^-h  the 
city  in  ftraight  lines.     And  there  is  a  wonderful  accuracy  in  the  plan.     The  forelftreet 
does  not  pals  through  the  centre  of  it ;  but  the  larger  part  of  the  plot  lies  to  the  fouth 
and  the  fnialler  legment  to  the  north  ;  which  is  precifely  true  of  the  city  of  Exeter! 
Surely  this  was  not  a  random  plot  of  Ibme  Britifli  town.     Though,  pofllbly,  the  other 
fh-eets  that  interfetl  it  may  not  bear  examination,  as  compared  with  the  prefent  Exeter 
yet  it  fufficiently  refembles  the  modern  city,  to  be  received  as  an  engravino-  of  the  an- 
cient.    What  fliould  rather  excite  our  admiration  is,  that  this  engraving  fliould  be  fb 
fimilar  to  the  prefent  Exeter,  allowing  for  the  alterations  in  the  flreets  and  buildings,  in 

{a)  In  a  letter  to  the  author.    Had  this  excellent  Antiquary  leifure  to  Infpedt  the  city,  I  doubt  not 
tut  he  would  fcon  fix  the  fcite  of  the  original  town,  to  the  fatiifaaion  of  the  learned. 


{Jb)  See  Antiquities  of  Cornwall,  p.  242. 
(<■}  Plate  J 9. 


fuch 


4S  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

fach  a  courfc  of  tlmc.(j)  That  this  is  the  ichnography  of  the  Biitifh Exeter,  is  certainly 
a  new  dilcovers',  and,  on  account  of  its  noveUy,  will  be  regarded  at  leafl:  with  a  fufpi- 
cious  eye.  But  if  the  coin  on  which  it  is  found  be  Britilh,  which  Borlale  has  clearly 
proved',  it  is,  alFurcdly,  the  ichnography  of  a  Britilh  city.  And,  if  it  reprefent  aBritifh 
city,  has  not^xeter,  for  the  realbns  I  have  ftated,  the  bell  claim  to  be  confidered  as  its 
archetype  ?  At  all  events,  it  corroborates  our  argument  in  flavor  of  the  Britifli  architec- 
tiu-e.  It  not  only  corroborates  our  argument,  but  at  decides  upon  the  point  with  the 
moft  happy  precifion.  It  dilTipates  from  our  minds  every  doubt  of  the  Britilh  Ikill  in 
building;  whilll  it  exhibits  a  large  city,  with  one  grand  ftreet  ftretching  through  the 
length  of  it,  and  a  variety  of  inferior  itreets  pairing  in  ditierent  direftions  through  the 
whole.  After  all  this  dilquifition,  we  may  ikfcly,  I  think,  conclude,  that  the  Ifca  Dan- 
mor.iorujn  was  no  mean  fortixfs  in  the  woods,  but  a  metropolis  of  the  weftern  kingdom, 
well  worthy  the  oriental  genius.  But,  though  the  metropolis  was  thus  magnificent,  we 
are  not  to  look  for  an  ex^enfive  difplay  of  architetlure  in  the  other  Danmonian  towns. 
Ii'ca  had  become  the  royal  refidence  :  Here,  therefore,  the  moft  numerous  as  well  as  the 
molt  itately  buildings,  would  naturally  be  erefted.  The  Danmonian  genius,  however, 
was  verlatile  and  capricious  :  Its  exertions  were  not  long  confined  to  any  fingle  fpot.  In 
the  mean  time,  I  think  it  highly  probable,  that  thei-e  were  towns,  in  each  of  the  can- 
treds,  more  refpetSlable  than  are  generally  attributed  to  the  Britons.  Richard  mentions 
tlie  ofium  Ifca  Jiu'vii ;  And,  from  the  mercantile  charadler  of  the  Danmonians,  I  fliould 
conceive  a  town  of  fome  confequence  to  have  been  built  at  the  mouth  of  the  Exe.  In 
thi?  commercial  light,  Okehau:f>tcfi,  alio,  rifes  to  view ;  fituated  on  the  Ocrifium  Jugum,  by 
the  rivers  Ochnenl,  and  preferving  the  communication  between  the  metropohs  of  Ban. 
moiiiura,  and  the  country  to  the  north  of  this  chain  of  mountains  :  And  Okehampton, 
in  a  line  with  Exeter,  might  have  been  included  in  the  cantred  of  Ifca.  But  Drewf- 
tein^ton,  the  town  of  tie  DruUs  upon  the  Teign,  was  exceeded,  perhaps,  only  by  the 
metropolis  m  extent  or  magnificence  of  building.  Its  name  announces  it  to  have  been 
the  chief  totvii  of  the  Druids,  itpC7i  the  Teigii.{b)  As  Exeter  was  probably  fupported  by 
its  manufafturers  and  merchants,  fo  Drewfteirigton  might  have  been  fupported  by  its 
priells.  That  it  was  their  favourite  refidence,  is  clearly  proved  by  the  many  Dnaidical 
veftiges  around  it.  It  has  not  flourilhed,  indeed,  as  a  town  for  ages  :  But  this  is  no 
ob\dion  to  vivf  fup-.>c>fiLion.  As  Druidifm  declined,  its  chief  manfion  funk  :  And  with 
its  Druids,  Drewfte'ington  perilhed.  Nor  is  it  likely,  that  the  Romans  would  attempt  to 
■fk  op  the  mouldering  ruin.  The  Romans  would  rather  have  razed  it  to  the  ground. 
They  were  the  inveterate  enemies  of  Druidi.fin  :  And_  its  chief  feat  was,  probably,  the 
firfi  ob'e<5l  of  their  vengeance.  And  Totnes,  from  its  high  antiquity,  has,  doubtlefs, 
(bme  claiiTi  to  diftinftion  among  the  Eritifli  towns.  Totnes  is  fituated  on  the  afcent  of  a 
((-)iccky  hill.  It  may  be  defcribed,  at  prefent,  as  one  good  ftreet  about  a  mile  in  length, 

from 

{a)  The  6th  coin  In  the  19th  plate,  in  Borlafe,  feems  to  be  a  duplicate  of  the  12th  coin,  though 
fre-itly  defaced. 

(/')  Dreii-ft-^r:  in  the  parifli  of  Drewfteignton,  and  Drewjloi  in  Chagford,  were  alfo  Druid  towns. 

{c)  Leland  thinks  its  orii^inal  name  was  Dodorcff'i;  fignifying  "^  rocky  tiwu."  NeJ/i  is  a  promontory. 
"Weficote,  fpeaking  of  Totnes,  fays  :  "  It  prefcribes  for  antiquitie  before  any  great  Bryttanie  yeiides ; 
I  fpe.ik  vpon  the  good  warrant  of  Geffry  of  Monmouth,  who  refolutely  affirmeth,  that  the  famous 
R.o.TinnTro;r.n  landc-d  in  this  country,  firft  at  th's  place,  when  hee  conquered  this  land  :  which  is 
confirmed  ajfoe  by  the  ftrength  of  the  Foc;t  Havillan  (if  hee  prefume  not  a  little  too  boldly)  when 
hee  fayth.  ^"^^  '^"'o  Curfu  Brutus  Comitatus  Achate 

GaUoruoi  jp'Ji'ii  cumulmui  na-vitus  ajuor 
Exarat,  et  fupcrh^  auraq-ue  faterAibas  -vfui 
hutora  fal'icei  intrat  Tctoncfta  portui. 
Th's  granted  (for  who  will  qucftion  the  long  belieued  hiftory  of  Brutus)  wee  may  boldly  &  clearly 
prefcribe  beftrt  all  t'-.e  towncs  and  cityes  in  Great  Bryttaine,  for  if  there  were  any  in  Albion  before 
his  arrjvall  wee  finde  nee  mention  of  them.  Now  let  vs  make  a  brife  computation  (to  aver  our  tenet 
and  to  pifs  the  time  •-vithall  ^'.hlle  wee  r.re  in  this  good  towne)  Brute  arriued  here  in  the  time  (ai 
Grafton  faith)  that  Hely  was  high  PiieA  of  Ifrael  Anno  mundi  2?56:   before  our  redemption  1108 
ycarcs,  who  after  hee  had  conquere<l  many  famous  Gyants,  and  his  Cofcn  Corinius  had  in  fayr  play 
at  a  pull  of  v.rellling  thrown  their  Chiefe  Leader  Gogmagog  over  the  Ma-.v  ol  Ply.xouth  (though  the 
Ktntilh-mcn  uill  haue  it  to  bee  at  DoverJ   hee  topke  a  Survey  of  all  this  ifland,  and  corning  by  the 
ryver  Tames  for  the  great  pleafure  hee  tooke  in  tlie  fayr  meadowes,  pleafant  paftures,  amenitie  of 
'  "  the 


The    BRITISH    PERfOD.  49 

from  eaft  to  wefi .  It  was  once  walled,  and  had  four  gates.  Nor  oaglit  wc  to  forget 
Amienton.  Baxter  in  his  glofl'ary  maintains,  that  Armenton  or  Arminton,  was  the 
Ardua  of  Anonymous  Ravennas,  and  that  this  was  an  erroneous  tranfcript  of  Armina— . 
Ar-min-au,  ad  labium  unda — lb  called  by  the  Britons.  According  to  this  writer,  there- 
fore,  it  was  an  ancient  Britifii  town.  And  where  could  the  firft  Britons(a)  have  more 
commodioufiy  fixed  their  habitations,  than  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Arme  ?  The  town 
of  PljTiiton  leems  to  be  marked  as  Britifh  by  its  conlpicuous  mound.  The  Tattiara  of 
Ptolemy  and  of  Richard,  which  is  ftill  echoed  by  Tamtrrton,  was,  affuredly,  a  town  of 
the  Danmonians  ;  and  placed  on  the  banks  of  fuch  a  fine  river  as  the  Tamar,  it  was, 
probably,  a  town  of  high  commercial  charafter.  And  the  Voluba  and  Uxella  of  Ptolemy 
and  Richard,  as  well  as  the  Cenia  of  Richard,  in  the  more  weftem  parts  of  Danmonium, 
mu.1;  be  placed  among  the  ancient  towns  of  the  Britons.  In  the  mean  time,  'Tennolusi^b) 
and  Artavia,{c)  which  Richard  attributes  to  the  Cimbri,  and  {d)MuJUvm  and  {e)Ha. 
langiurn,  which  the  fame  writer  places  among  the  Carnabii,  are  to  be  confidered  as  flou- 
rilhing  towns  before  the  Roman  airival :  And,  though  not  noticed  by  the  ancient  geo- 
graphers, Redruth  or  the  Druid" s-tov.'n,  is  peculiaily  diftinguilhed  by  the  caftle  of  Kam- 
bre  in  its  vicinity.  Thus,  then,  have  I  placed  the  ci'vil  ai-chitedture  of  Danmonium  in 
a  more  reipeftable  light  than  it  is  generally  coniidered.  And,  according  to  this  theory, 
the  military  architecture  of  tlie  Britons  muft  proportionably  rife  in  our  efteem.  Csefar 
informs  us,  that  the  whole  ftudy  of  the  nobles  was  war.  That  they  /hould  have  made, 
therefore,  a  veiy  great  proficiency  in  the  icience  of  fortification  might  naturally  be  ex- 
pected. The  notion  of  the  fimple  foi'trels  in  the  woods,  feems  to  be  chiefly  taken  from 
C;e(ar's  delbripticn  of  a  Britifh  town.  But  this  defcription  has  not  been  lufEciently 
regardeil.  It  is  a  picture  of  Britons  Ikilled  in  war  :  It  conveys  to  us  an  exalted  idea  of 
their  military  architecture.  The  fortrefs  of  Caffivellaunus,  was  ofpidum  JiJ-jis  faludibuf- 
que  munitum.    And  the  Britons,  fays  Caliir,  Jil'vas  impeditas  'valk  atque  fojja  munierunt. 

the  ayre,  and  buckrome  foyle,  bonlering  her  bankes  (I  doe  bat  exemplifie  tlic  hiftory)  hce  there 
began  to  build  a  cltye,  which  in  remembrance  of  the  ancient  razed  Troy  hee  called  Troye-novant 
which  fome  1041  yeares  after  by  King  I-iidd  named  Luddftowne,  now  breifly  London  :  Soe  fuppofe 
Brute  ported  through  the  country,  yet  could  hee  not  make  fuch  haft  with  his  armye,  in  a  ftrange 
countrye,  in  mountainous  woodye,  untraded  wayes,  nnmanured  land,  but  it  would  require  timcj 
and  hee  could  hardly  conquer  the  whole  Ifland  which  had  fuch  ftrong  inhabitants,  and  efpecially 
build  fuch  a  citye  in  lefs  then  20  yeares,  foe  beeing  20  years  before  London  it  muft  bee  576  yeares 
antienter  then  Rome,  which  was  after  London  356.  and  Chayr  Ebrauck  (now  called  Yorke)  as 
built  by  Ebiauck  king  Mempricius  fonn,  140  yeares  after  Anno  mundi  2972.  foe  wee  are  dear  for 
aritiquitie.  Now  let  vs  fee  what  other  matter  it  yieldes  worthy  our  obfervation,  vre  finde  that 
Aurelius  Ambros  with  his  brother  Vter  Pendragon  fonnes  to  Conftantius  (of  the  mixed  blood  of  the 
Bryttaines  and  Romanes}  who  fled  very  young  from  hence  into  Little  Bryttaine  (vpon  the  death  of 
their  elder  brother  king  Conftantius  the  younger  trayteroufly  (lain  by  Vortigern  termed  the  fcourgc 
of  the  countrye  and  king-killer)  returned  hither  in  their  riper  yeares,  and  befieged  the  Traylor  in 
his  Caftle  in  Wales  and  confumed  him  with  fire,  about  the  yeare  of  our  Lord  450.  yet  whence  it 
fhould  take  name,  or  of  the  Etymologie  not  a  word  is  fpoken  :  fome  take  It  from  the  french  word 
Tout  alefle  which  by  interpretation  is  a/I  at  eafe;  as  if  Brute  at  his  arrivail  in  fuch  a  pleiifant 
and  fruitPull  foyle,  &  healthy  ayre,  after  foe  painfull  a  navigation  ihould  aflure  himfelfe  &  his 
fellowe  trauellerS  of  eafe  and  reft,  and  foe  fay  vnto  them,  tout  ahjfi  &  the  L  in  foe  long  time 
changed  into  N.  (which  is  noe  great  alteration)  we  call  it  Totitancffc--,  this  I  could  eafily  and  v/il- 
lingly  applaud,  could  I  think  of  Brute  being  a  Roman  Trojan  fpake  foe  good  french,  or  that  ths 
french  tongue  was  then  fpoken  at  all;  therefore  I  fhall  rather  joyne  in  opinion  with  thofe  which 
will  haue  it  called  DodonefTe  which  fignifyeth  the  rockie  towne,  or  towne  on  ftones,  which  is  very 
probable  (and  agreeable  to  the  mind  of  Leiand  that  ancient  Antiquarie)  for  it  ftandes  on  the  declining 
of  a  hill  verie  ftonie  and  rockie  :  others  fliall  have  leave  to  mike  conjedltires  &  hunt  further  for  tlic 
derivation  of  the  name  ;  1  have  done."  Weftcote'sViewof  Devonlhire  (PortledgeM.S.)  p.  205,  206. 

{a)  "  It  was  wit);  thefe  Armenians  (fays  Vallarcey,  on  the  authority  of  Sir  George  Yonge)  that 
the  Phenicians  traded  for  tin  :  And  we  have,  at  tills  day,  many  places  of  Plienicinn  origin  in  their 
names,  both  in  Devon  and  Cornwall.  And  in  the  S.W.  of  Devonlhire,  there  is  ftill  a  river,  called 
Armive ;  and  the  town  and  hundred  are  called  Arminc-ton  to  this  day.  So,  likewife,  there  was  the 
Scot  turn  Mom  in  Armenia."     This  is  an  odd  coincidence  ! 

(^)  Molland. 

{c)  Camden  fpeaks  of  "  two  towns,  called  Hcrtctt  and  Hcrthnd,  on  tlie  promantory  of  Hcrculei^ 
called,  at  this  day,  'Herty-pohH."" 

(d)   St.  Maivn — qu, 

(f)  Helfior.i — qu. 

Vol.  I.  G  And 


5©  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

And  the  fort  in  queftion  was  locum  egregie  naiura  atque  opere  mumtum.{a)  The  Britifli 
fortrefs,  we  Ice,  was  planted  in  the  centre  of  the  woods,  defended  by  the  advantages  of 
its  politlon,  and  lecured  by  a  reg\ilar  rampart  and  folle.  And  Ca^far  fpeaks  in  the  higheft 
terms  of  its  ftrength  and  contrivance.  But  this  faltnefs  in  the  woods,  was  no  other  than, 
luch  a  clanfhip  as  I  at  firft  defcribed,  agreeably  to  the  vulgar  idea  of  the  Britilh  town. 
It  was  here,  that  the  chief  refided  at  intervals,  together  with  his  vailas  and  his  cattle. 
Fond  of  changing  the  fcene,  he  frequently  removed  from  one  fortreis  to  another:  And 
the  number  oV  his  fortrefles  mull  have  been  determined  by  the  extent  of  his  property. 
If,  then,  the  Britons  could  difplay  fuch  admirable  workmanfhip  in  thefe  occafionai  habi- 
tations, they  mull  have  exerted  their  ingenuity  much  more  confpicucufly  in  fortifying 
thofe  cities  or  towns,  where  commerce  or  other  caufes  had  fixed  their  refidence.  Here, 
the  foi  trefs  of  the  chief  would  be  built  on  a  more  enlarged  plan  :  And  a  caftle  wguld 
rife,  in  the  bofom  of  the  wood,  perhaps  in  a  turret  like  form,  and  fortified  with  more 
extenfive  outworks.  Of  this  fort  of  ilrufture,  perhaps  the  caftle  of  Karnbre  is  the 
only  one  remaining,  which  we  fhould  venture  to  afcribe  to  the  Britons.  Karnbre- 
caftle(^)  llands  on  a  rocky  knoll  at  the  eaftern  end  of  Karnbre-hill.  "  The  building  is 
footed  on  an  irregular  ledge  of  vaft  rocks,  whofe  furfaces  are  very  uneven,  fome  high, 
fome  lo\t ;  and,  confequently,  the  floors  of  the  rooms  on  the  ground-floor  mull  be  (o 
too.  The  rocks  were  not  contiguous  ;  for  which  realon  the  architeft  has  contrived  fo 
many  arches  from  rock  to  rock,  as  would  carr}'  the  wall  above.  The  ledge  of  rocks  was 
narrow;  and  the  rooms  purchafed  by  lb  much  labor,  neither  capacious  nor  handfome." 
There  were  fome  buildings,  at  the  N.  \V.  end,  which  were  the  outworks  to  this  caille : 
But  its  greateft  fecurity  was  the  difficult  approach  to  it ;  the  hill  being  ftrewed  with  large 
rocks  on  ever)'  fide.  But  in  the  more  improved  clanfliip,  the  fortrefs  where  the  ciiief 
refided,  was  by  no  means  fuflicient  for  its  defence.  Some  building  mull  have  been  necef- 
far)',  perhaps,  on  a  more  elevated  fcite,  capacious  enough  for  a  large  garrifon,  and  for 
the  refidence,  alfo,  of  the  chief  and  his  domeflics.  I  have  already  obierved,  that  a 
mount  was,  probabl}-,  erected  on  the  higheft  grounds,  in  the  neighbomhood  of  every 
clanlhip — that  it  was,  at  firft,  the  mark  of  a  new  lettlement,  agreeably  to  the  Afiatie 
cuftom,  but  that,  very  fliortly,  it  was  ufed  as  a  beacon.  In  procefs  of  time,  however, 
thefe  mounts  preitnted  themfelves  to  the  Britons,  as  the  moft  convenient  fituations  for  their 
cafteliated  llruilures  :  And,  for  the  defence  of  the  more  populous  and  flourilhing  clan- 
fliips,  which  had  been  enlarged  into  confiderable  towns,  and  in  which  the  inhabitants, 
at  length,  were  ftationar}',  the  beacon  became  the  (c)keep  of  a  caftle.  Thus,  in  Ireland, 
are  a  great  number  of  round  hills,  for  the  moft  part  artificial,  on  which  turrets  or  caftles 
are  ere(5led.(./)  The  caftle  of  Rougemont  ftands  on  the  higheft  part  of  the  hill  on  which 
Exeter  is  built,  and  on  the  N.  E.  extremit}\  The  mount,  was,  probably,  volcanic; 
and  the  mafonry  on  the  top  of  it,  railed  by  the  labor  of  the  ancient  Britons :  But  the 
outworks  muft;  be  attributed  to  fubfeqiient  times.  Okehampton- caftle,  which  ftands  a 
little  weft  of  the  centie  of  the  county,  and  near  the  town  of  Okehampton,  is  faid  to  have 
been  built  by  Baldwin  de  Brioniis,  who,  as  it  appears  from  Domefday-book,  was  in 
pofteftion  of  it,  when  that  furvey  v\as  taken.  But,  I  think,  this  caftle  has  the  appearance 
of  much  higher  antiquity.  Its  fcite  near  Ockinton  (the  town  on  the  Ock)  and  juft  on 
the  Ocrinum  Jugum,  which  carries  with  it  the  name  of  the  river,  fuggefts  to  us  the  idea 
of  a  Britifti  fortrefs  ;  whilft  its  artificirjl  mount,  thrown  up  on  fo  commanding  a  fpot, 
feems  equally  calculated  for  the  purpofes  of  a  colonial  landmark,  a  beacon,  or  a  keep. 
At  prefent,  Okehampton-caftle  is  in  ruins  j  though  there  remains  a  part  of  the  keep,  and 
fojTie  fragments  of  high  walls,  the  folidity  of  which,  together  with  their  advantageous 
fituation,  and  the  fpace  they  occupy,  clearly  evince,  that  when  entire,  this  caftle  was 
both  ftrong  and  extenfive.  The  caJlle  of  Totnes  ftands  on  the  N.W.  fide  of  the  town, 
not  far  from  the  ruins  of  the  north-gate.  Its  keep,  of  great  acclivity,  rifes  to  a  towering 
height,  and  commands  the  circumjacent  country  to  a  vaft  extent.  The  mount  of  earth 
at  Plymton,  was,  doubtlefs,  thrown  up  by  the  Britons.  This  mount  of  a  pyramidical 
form,  is  about  two  hundred  feet  in  circumference,  and  feventy  in  height :  On  the  top, 

{a)  Caefar,  lib.  v.  fe£V.  xx. 
\b)  Borlafe's  Antiquities,  p.  319,  320. 

(^c)  A  Keep  is  a  building  elevated  above  the  reft,  by  a  mount  or  tumulus,  for  the  moft  part  arti- 
ficially raifed.     Borlafe's  Antiquities,  p.  318. 
((/)  See  Wright's  Louthiana. 

it 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  5t 

It  has  a  circular  wall.  Trematon-calHe,  near  Saltafli,  from  its  keep  and  other  particu- 
lars, I  conceive  to  have  been  Britilh,  That  it  exifted  before  the  Norman  Conqueft,  will 
be  proved  hereafter.  And  it  was  certainly  neither  Danifti,  Saxon,  nor  Roman.  But 
whether  it  was  railed  by  the  Britons  in  this  or  a  fubfequent  period,  we  cannot  determine* 
Reftorniel-caftle  was,  likewife,  anterior  to  the  conqueft  :  But  when  it  was  built  by  the 
Britons,  is  uncertain.  It  Hands  about  a  mile  north  of  the  town  of  Lollwithiel,  not  on  a 
faftitious  hill,  but  on  a  rocky  knoll  on  the  edge  of  a  hill,  overlooking  a  deep  valley. 
The  rock  is  planed  into  a  level,  and  fhaped  round  by  a  ditch  :  And  the  keep  erefteil 
upon  tlie  rock,  has  fufhcient  elevation.  At  Trematon,  the  keep  is  raifed  on  an  artificial 
hill.  As  Launcelton,  or  Dunheved-caftle  was,  undoubtedly,  the  ftrongeft  and  the  moft 
fpacious  of  all  the  Danmonian  caftles,  I  (hall  give  a  more  particular  defcription  of  it. 
Leiand,  who  h.ad  feen  the  moll  remarkable  buildings  in  England,  obferves :  "  The(fl) 
hill,  on  which  the  keep  ftands,  is  large,  and  of  a  very  terrible  height,  and  the  arx  of  it— 
the  keep — having  three  feverid  wards,  is  the  ftrongell:,  but  not  the  biggeft  that  ever  I 
faw  in  any  ancient  work  in  England."  The  principal  entrance  (lays  Borlale)  {b)  is  on 
the  N.  E.  the  gateway,  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long.  The  whole  keep  is  ninety- 
three  feet  diameter.  It  confiiled  of  three  wards.  The  wall  of  the  firft  ward  was  not 
quite  three  feet  thick,  and  therefore,  I  think,  could  only  be  a  parapet  to  defend  the  brow 
of  the  hill.  The  wall  of  the  lecond  ward  is  twelve  feet  thick,  and  has  a  ftair-cafe  three 
feet  wide,  at  the  left  hand  of  the  entrance,  running  up  to  the  top  of  the  rampart :  The 
entrance  of  this  ftair-cale  has  a  round  arch  of  ftone  over  it.  On  the  left  of  the  entrance 
into  the  third  ward,  a  ftair-cafe  leads  to  t!ie  top  of  the  innermoft  rampart,  the  wall  of 
which  is  ten  feet  thick,  and  thirty-two  feet  high  from  the  floor.  The  room  is  eighteen 
feet  fix  inches  diameter.  The  lofty  taper  hill  on  which  this  ftrong  keep  is  built,  is  partly 
natural  and  partly  artificial.  It  fpread  farther  into  the  town  anciently  than  it  does  at 
prelent ;  and  by  the  radius  of  it  was  three  hundred  and  twenty  feet  diameter,  and  very 
high.  Norden  gives  us  a  wall  at  the  bottom  of  tills  hill :  And,  though  there  is  no  ftrefs 
to  be  laid  on  his  drawings,  yet  it  is  not  unlikely  that  it  had  a  wall  or  parapet,  round  the 
bottom  of  it,  towai'ds  the  town ;  as  the  principal  rampart  of  the  bafs-court  breaks  off 
very  abruptly,  fronting  the  town.  More  than  half  the  bafs-court  is  now  covered  with 
houfes."  Mr.  King's  remarks  on  this  caftle  aie  ingenious.  '^  LaunceJioii-caftle{c)  (faya 
Mi\  King)  mull  be  placed  among  caftles  of  very  great  antiquity  ;  both  on  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  ftair-cafes  are  conftrucled,  and  on  account  of  the  fmall  dimenfions 
of  the  area  of  the  inner  tower.  Perhaps,  it  was  eredled  in  the  firft  ages,  by  the  Dan- 
monii,  who  had  acquired  a  degree  of  art  beyond  the  reft  of  the  Britons,  from  their  com- 
mercial intercourle  with  the  eaftern  nations."  But  my  conjectures  relating  to  the  eaftern. 
origin  of  the  Danmonii,  will  bell  aniVver  to  the  fubfequent  defcription.  "  We  cannot  but 
remark  (continues  Mr.  King)  the  limilarity  between  this  Caftle  of  Launcefton,  and  that 
ofEcbatana,  the  capital  of  Media,  as  defcribed  by  Herodotus.  The  keep  of  our  mag- 
nificent fortrefs,  which  was  built  in  the  firll  ages  of  the  world,  greatly  refembles  the  keep 
of  Ecbatana.  At  Launcefton  we  find  three  great  and  elevated  circular  walls,  towering 
o'uer  and  behind  each  other  ;  namely,  the  wall  of  the  firft  ward ;  that  of  the  fecond  ward  j 
and  tliat  of  the  innermoft  ward  or  central  tower.  Befides  which,  there  is,  on  one  part, 
the  outward  wall  of  the  bafs-court  of  the  caftle — which  would  appear  in  many  directions 
at  a  diftance,  as  a  fourth  wall  beneath  the  reft.  Herodotus(<Y)  tells  us,  that  Dejoces 
compelled  the  Medes  to  come  under  one  polity,  and  to  build  a  city,  furrounded  with 
fortifications  j  and  that  feven  ftrong  and  magnificent  walls  (known  by  the  name  of  Ecba- 
tana) were  then  built.  They  were,  he  fays,  of  a  circular  form,  one  within  the  other; 
and  each  gradually  raifed  juft  fo  much  above  the  other  as  the  battlements  are  high;  the 
frtuation  of  the  ground,  which  rofe  by  an  eafy  aicent,  being  favourable  to  the  defign. 
The  king's  palace  and  treafury  were  built  within  the  innermojl  circle  of  the  leven  which 
compofed  the  city.  The  firft  and  moft  fpacious  of  thofe  walls,  v/as  equal,  in  circumfe- 
rence, to  the  city  of  Athens ;  and  white  from  the  foot  of  the  battlements ;  the  fecond 
bl.ick  ;  the  third  of  a  purple  color;  the  fourth  blue  ;  and  the  fifth  of  a  deep  orange — all 
being  coloured  with  different  compofitions.    And  of  Uie  two  innermoft  walls,  one  w*s 

(«)  Vol.  2,  p.  79. 
{b)  Antiquities,  p.  326. 
(t)  Arch.  vol.  6.  p.  291. 
\d)  Book  I  ft. 
Vol.  I.  G  a  painted 


5*  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

painted  on  the  b.ittlements,  of  a  filvcr  color;  and  the  other  gilded  with  gold.  Having 
thus  provided  for  his  own  fccurity,  he  ordered  the  people  to  fix  their  liabitations  without 
the  walls  of  this  city.  This  is  veiy  neaily  a  delcription  of  Launcefton-calHe,  and  the 
adjacent  town — almoll;  the  only  diffei-oice  being,  that  the  f';ale  in  one  inllance,  is  larger 
than  in  the  other,  and  that  the  battlements  of  the  walls  of  the  one  were  painted  with 
difitrent  colors,  and  thofe  of  the  ether  left  plain.  As  to  the  affinity  of  thefe  buildings,  or 
the  dcnvatkon  of  the  plan  of  Dunheved,  frona  the  eaft,  every  one  muil  be  left  to  form  his 
own.  conclufions  :  But  when  I  read  in  the  9th  chapter  of  the  2d  book,  of  Kings,  that  on 
Jehu's  being  anointed  King  over  Ifrael,  at  Ramoth-Gilead,  the  captams  of  the  lioft,  who 
were  tlien  fitting  in  council,  as  foon  as  they  he;ud  thereof,  took  evejy  man  his  garment, 
and  put  it  under  him,  os  the  top  af  the  fairs -^  and  blew  with  trumpets,  proclaiming — 
*•  Jehu  is  King!"  and  when  I  confider  the  hiftorian's  account  of  Ecbataua,  which  was 
at  no  wreat  diSance  from  Syria,  and  in  a  country  much  connefted  with  it,  and  refleft 
alfo,  upon  tlw  appearance  of  the  top  of  the  ftauxafe,  at  Launcefton,  I  am  apt  to  conclude, 
that  at  Launcefton,  is  ftill  to  be  beheld  nearly  the  fame  kind  of  aixhiteitural  icenery,  as 
was  exhibited  on  the  inauguration  of  Jehu  at  Ramoth-Gilead." 

Thus  I  hare  delcribed  two  forts  of  Britifli  caftles -,  the  firft  fort  turretwlle ;  the 
fecoud  with  a  >ceep.  And  I  have  defcribed  tiie  Britiih  ;irc!iitefture,  both  civil  and  mili- 
tary, in  a  more  atlvijjiced  ftate  than  is  generally  conceived.  In  the  mean  time,  there  were 
roads,  which  not  onlj'  pafled  ft-om  town  to  town,  but  formed  extenfive  communications 
through  Danraoniura  and  the  neighbouring  kingdoms.  That  Belinus  made  a  high  road 
through  the  whole  length  of  the  ifland,  is  alleiteti  by  our  cluonicles  -.  But  tliis,  llnTly, 
is  apocryphal. (rt)  The  exiftence  of  Britifli  roads  may  be  maintained  on  better  authority. 
The  trading  fpirit  of  the  Danraonians  coujd  not  have  relied  for  a  moment  without  iucli 
communications.  Before  the  Romans  (fays  Mr.  Whitakei-)  there  were,  probably,  fcve- 
rai  ways  in  the  Icuthern  parts  of  the  illand  ;  which  had  been  pi-evioiiily  laid  out,  though 
rudel)',  for  the  public  U'e,  and  adapted,  though  iudifr'erently,  to  the  conveyance  of  its 
natar.d  commodities  to  tiie  ports,  and  to  the  introdufilion  of  foreign  from  them.(Z')  Mr. 
Whitaker  plainly  proves,  that  the  two  great  I'oads  of  the  Watli/jg  raid  Ikenint;  llreets  (the 
firil.  leading  to  tiie  Guetkeli  or  Gathdi  of  Ireland — ^the  lecond,  to  the  lce)n  of  tlie  taftem 
caall)  were  oiiginalJy  undertaken  and  executed  before  tlie  invafion  of  tlie  Romans. 
*'  Both  mult  have  been  begun,  he  fays,  by  tJie  Belgas  of  tJie  fouth  countries  :  And,  what 
is  very  extraordinary,  both  plainly  apj->ear  to  have  commenced  from  the  fouth."  Accord- 
XBg  to  my  theory,  the  firfi:  Britifn  roads  would  have  been  framed  by  the  Danmonii,  iu 
whofe  country  the  Britifh  trade  originated  :  And,  in  the  progreli;  of  commerce  from  the 
weli,  theie  roads  would  have  been  gi-aduaily  extended,  and  new  connnunicatiouii  opened 
tlu'ough  the  iiland. 

Such 

(jt)  Sammes  tells  us,  In  his  Britannia  Anu^ua  Vlujirata,  tlir.t  "  Belyrt  fet  hlmfelf  to  tlie  finifliing 
of  th'it  treat  work  begun  by  his  father  Z)«»wj//s,  the  making  and  p.iving  of  four  threat  iiigli-wayes 
throtjgW  -lis  k.n«;fIom  ot  Loegria,  now  caljed  Esigiand.  The  firft  is  named  Fcjs,  and  beginneth  at  the 
come  cl'  Teirtfi'  in  Cem-waH-,  and  p<'.freth  through  Dfvonjhire  and  Sor,ici-f(tj}jire^  and  fo  to  Co^jcntryy 
Leiicfifr,  .ind  from  thence  [&s  Raxulph^  a  monk  of  Chtflcr,  recordeth)  through  the  •zvaftes  to  Newark, 
and  ended  at  i/cfo/n."  P.  173.  "  Att  this  town  hekl  the  moll  foutli  or  foiithmoft  part  of  this 
ldr.2idome  began  the  Ffofle-ftreet  which  with  Watiing-ftreet  &  Jkmeld-ftreet  &  Exming-ftrect 
were  tlie  4  hig-i-wayes  that  tra.-erfed  over  England,  firft  began  by  that  fapient  Lawguier  MuJmutius 
kinee  of  this  ReaLiie,  and  finifrf'd  &  p:iued  by  his  martial  fonne  Belynus  vpon  the  credit  of  the 
Brvtryfii  ftorye  $0^  yeares  hefoi-3  the  jncarnation  of  Chtift.  thcs  4  wayes  croHtd  over  the  wliole 
Laad,  being  very  needful!  ScnecetTary  both  in  warrs  as  peace,  and  previkdged  as  weli  by  Mulminlus. 
bjsov7n  edi'^'s  as  the  Roman  Lawcs,  and  fhould  bee  in  like  refpeit  with  vs,  the  name  intimating  as 
tnu^h  i  the  Kirrs  Tligh  way.  and  Bra£lon  faith  they  are  Res  (ac>,r,  et  qui  alijuid  accufiaveritj  exce- 
^JeTt^umf.net  rt  t-:rm':iui  teirde fua,  dicxtur ftdjj'e preeprefluram  juper  'ipfiim  regent:  They  are  priviledged 
places,  and  'ee  that  m  kei  trefpafs  there  committs  preprarture  vjyjn  the  King  himfdfe.  This  fFo/Te- 
i(lr«ct  tooke  heg'.r<n;n*^  litre  (i  )at  this  town  &  runneth  through  the  whole  (hire  &  .Scmerfet  (&  in  feme 
place?  »o  hee  pL-rcfcivei^)  and  foe  (as  an  Author  faith)  to  Tutburye  &  by  Chcftevton,  by  Coventry, 
vnto  'Ia^'j  cefter,  and  foe  from  thence  by  wildes  and  playnes  to  Newark  and  thence  to  Lyncoln.'* 
Wtiif^te  ;  View  (Fortledge  M.S.)  p.  206. 

{b)  CoJ.  Simcoe  is  of  opinion,  tiiat  the  Britifli  commerce  muft  have  required  public  roads  before 
the  Ro-'fl^Ji  arrival.    In  a  letter  to  the  autiior,  the  Coloavl  fays  :    "  The  mountainous  region  of 

(i;  Tctm». 

Dartmeoc 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  53 

Such  are  the  two  different  reprefentatious  of  the  ci'-uil  and  miUtary  archlte6lui-e  of  the 
Bi-itons  ;  which,  I  think,  may  be  brought  to  harmonize,  by  confidering  the  little  towns 
ill  the  woods  or  the  caverns  in  the  rocks,  as  the  immediate  refource  of  the  fettiers  and 
the  larger  towns  or  cities  as  the  produi3:  of  an  advanced  colonization.  Nor  is  it  at  all 
improbable,  that  a  great  number  of  luch  faftnefles  in  the  woods,  which  were  by  no  means 
contemptible,  Ihould  have  remained  in  their  original  Itate,  the  temporary  relidence  of 
their  relpeftive  chiefs ;  whillt  a  few  from  their  advantageous  fcite,  or  other  circumftances 
might  have  been  furrounded  with  buildings  to  a  great  extent,  the  feats  of  manufadure 
and  the  marts  of  commerce.  If,  however,  thele  different  reprefentations  cannot  be 
reconciled,  I  do  not  (cruple  to  attribute  the  meaner  architetlnare  to  the  Belgic  tribes - 
whilft  the  more  fplendid  and  magnificent,  undoubtedly,  belongs  to  our  colonills  from  Afia! 

From  the  c't'vU  and  military  buildings  of  the  Danmonii,  iet  us  pafs  to  the  religious.   The 
veftiges  of  Druidifm  that  are  to  be  traced  in  Danmonium,  muft  be  our  chief  o-uide    on 

the  prefent  fubjeft.     I  Ihail  delcribe  our  Di  uidical  monuments  in  the  following  order • 

the  Rock-Idol — the  Logan-Stone — the  Ro:k-Bafon — the  Jingle  Stom-Pillar tivo,  three    or 

more  Stone -Pillars — Circular  Stone-Pillars — Infcrzbed  Sione-Pillars — and  the  Cromlech. 
In  the  Druid  ages,  ttones  of  various  fliapes  were  confecrated  to  religion.  The  Arabians 
the  Syrians,  and  the  Phenicians  worfliipped  conical  or  quadrangular  ttones,  the  imao-es  of 
their  Gods.  But  the  eaftern  people  confined  not  their  homage  to  i-ocks  of  a  partfcular 
fliape  :  They  proftrated  tl>eraielves  before  the  rudeft.  In  Danmonium,  the  Druids 
as  I  have  already  obferved,  profeffed  to  believe,  that  rocky  places  were  the  favourite 
abodes  of  their  divinities.  And,  wherever  we  find  ftones,  which  ai-e  at  the  fame  time 
malfy  and  milhapen,  there  we  look  for  the  druidical  gods.  Vaftnefs,  in  (hort,  and  rude- 
nefs,  were  the  charadleriftics  of  the  Druid  Rock-Idols.  In  Cornwall,  Borlal'e  has  noticed 
a  great  number  of  thefe  ftone  deities  ;  though  he  feems  to  have  indulged  his  fancy  in  at- 
tempting to  give  exaft  and  difcrimmating  delineations  of  idols  that  mock  defcription. 
In  Devonlliire,  we  have  an  ample  field  for  fuch  inveftigation.  But,  the  misfortune  is 
that  nature  has  exhibited  her  Wild  fcenery  in  fo  many  places,  that  we  know  not  whither 
to  direct  our  firft  attention.  She  has  fcattered  tlie  rocks  around  us  fo  profulely,  that  we 
are  afraid  to  fix  on  a  Druid-Idol,  left  the  neighbouring  mafs  (hould  have  the  fame  pre- 
tenfions  to  adoration ;  and  all  the  ftones  upon  the  hills  and  in  the  vallies,  (hould  ftart  up 
into  divinities.  If  Bowerman's-Nofe,  for  inftance,  in  the  vicinity  of  Dartmoor,  be  con- 
Cdered  as  a  rock-idol  of  the  Druids,  there  is  fcarcely  a  toiT  on  the  foreft,  or  its  environs 
but  may  claim  the  fame  diftinftion.  Yet  this  enormous  mafs  of  ftone  upon  Heio-hen- 
down,  in  Manaton,  has  been  marked  as  druidical.  Placed  on  a  moft  elevated  Ipot,  it  rifes 
to  the  height  of  more  than  fifty  feet.  Viewed  at  a  diftance,  it  has  the  appearance  of  a 
human  figure  -.  and  its  gigantic  form  has  given  riie  to  a  variety  of  fables.  On  approach- 
ing it,  we  find  that  it  confifts  of  ieveral  ledges  of  granite,  piled  one  upon  another,  in  the 
rudeft  manner.  If,  however,  we  bow  down  to  this  granitical  god,  we  ihall  meet  deities 
at  every  ftep  ;  whilft  (fl)Heytorr,  a  hundred  feet  in  height,  the  torrs  of  Believer  and  of 
HefTary — whilft  Miltorr,  and  the  torr  of  Ham,  (Z-)  Steeperton-torr,  and  Miltorr  and  Row- 
torr,    frown  on  us  with  new  majefty.     Thus  Dartmoor  would  be  one  wide  Druid(i-) 

temple  | 

Dartmoor  (part  of  the  Ocrinum  Jugwm  of  the  ancients)  feparates  Devonfhire  into  two  dlftrias,  each 
of  whicli  muft  have  had  its  diftlnel  ro,id;  wliile  a  tiiird  muft  have  penetrated  the  mountains,  to  afford 
a  ready  conveyance  for  the  tin,  which  abounded  in  thofe  regions.  Thefe  roads,  from  the  nature  of 
the  country,  mult  have  pafftd  the  Exe  at  the  fame  ford,  in  their  progrefs  towards  the  ifle  of 
Wight :  and  this  ford  I  take  to  have  been  that  above  Cowley  Bridge,  between  Pynes  and  the  camp 
on  the  heights  of  Stoke,  above  Duryard,  the  anciert  luocd,  as  its  name  lignifies.  This  road,  upcu 
the  fame  principles,  may  be  traced  over  the  Clyft,  the  Otter,  and  the  Axe,  till  it  leaves  Devonshire  • 
and  muft  have  been  prior  to  Vefpafian.  Sir  R.  Worfley,  in  his  Hiftory  of  the  Ifle  of  Wight,  to  the 
beft  of  my  recolleftion,  mentions  the  ford,  and  where  it  is  probable  (according  to  Diodorus)  that 
it  paffed  to  that  idand."  This  far  Cok>nel  Simcoe.  That  paflage  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  which  relates 
to  the  Danmonian  commerce,  will  be  examined  in  the  eighth  fedion  of  this  chapter. 

(a)  Ceruinly  a  rock-idol :  Its  bafon^  added  to  its  enormity  and  urjhape/im/s,  determines  the  point. 

{/>)  Hamftorr  on  Dartmoor. 
^    (f)  Figuratively  fpeaking.     The  principal  rocks  on  Dartmoor,  however,  might  have  been  Britlfh 
idols.     And  in  the  vicinity  of  each  idol,  was,  probably,  a  Britifli  town.    BJackftone  and  Whitftone, 
we  may  conclude,  wer«  rock-idols,  from  the  terms  of  wonder  with  which  they  are  uo:iced  both  by 

Rifdf.-a 


54  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

temple ;  and  its  dark  wafte,  now  confecrated  ground,  would  breathe  a  browner  horror.  In 
the  parilh  of  Drewrteignton,  which  feenis  to  have  been  lingled  out  by  the  Druids,  as  the 
peculiaj-  feat  of  their  religion,  there  is,  at  the  end  of  a  down,  at  no  great  diftance  from 
the  Cromlech,  :m  awful  precipice  ;  where  the  rocks  are  divulfed  into  gloomy  chalhis,  and 
terminate  abruptly  in  a  perpendicular  manner.  Than  this  ipot,  none  could  be  more 
adapted  to  religious  worlhip  J'ub  dio,  or  to  the  accommodation  of  a  numerous  aflembly. 
One  rock  in  particular,  about  fixteen  feet  high,  detached  from  other  mailes  and  plane 
on  the  fuperlicies,  the  quoit  of  which  hanging  over  the  llratum  below  projects  three  or 
four  feet,  appeared  well  fuited  for  an  orator  to  addrefs  the  multitude.  Adjoining  to 
this  fpot  is  another  detached  body,  moll  fingular  in  its  appearance — having  two  ledges 
approaching  towards  each  other,  yet  not  touching,  being  leparated  by  a  perpendicular 
hollow  about  a  foot  wide,  through  which  may  be  difcerned  other  rocks  lying  behind. 
Over  thefe,  in  the  manner  of  a  Cromlech,  a  tranfverfe  enormous  impoft  I'uperintends, 
decorated  with  old  fantalHc  ivy,  and  tufted  with  a  mofs  peculiar  to  the  moorftone.  At  a 
little  difance  from  Grimlpound,  on  Hameldown,  in  Manaton,  is  Grwijlorr  ;  to  the  fouth 
of  which,  on  VVithecombe-commoii,  is  Broad-burrow,  and  iHU  further  fouth,  Thi-ee- 
burrows.  About  four  miles  from  Afliburton,  in  the  pariili  of  Dean-Prioi",  the  vale  of 
Dean-Burn  unites  the  terrible  and  the  graceful  in  fo  llriking  a  manner,  that  to  enter  this 
recefs  hath  the  effeft  of  enchantment;  whilll  enormous  rocks  feem  to  clofe  around  us, 
aniidft  the  deep  foliage  of  veneiable  trees,  and  the  roar  of  torrents.  And  Dean-Burn 
would  yield  a  noble  machinery  for  working  on  fuperftitious  minds  under  the  diredion  of 
tlie  Druids.  In  the  mean  time,  fliapelefs  piles  of  ftone,  on  Exmcor  or  the  adjacent 
countiy,  might  be  approached  as  rock-idols  of  the  Britons.  The  Valley  of  Stones,  in- 
deed, in  the  vicinity  of  Exmoor,  is  fo  awfally  magnilicent,  that  we  need  not  hehtate  in 
pronouncing  it  to  have  been  the  favourite  refidence  of  Druidilm.  And  the  country 
around  it,  is  peculiarly  vild  and  romantic. («)  This  valley  is  about  half  a  mile  in 
length,  and,  in  general,  about  three  hundred  feet  in  breadth,  fituattd  betrt-een  two  hills, 
covered  with  an  immenfe  quantity  of  fiones,  and  terminated  by  rocks  which  rile  to  a 
great  height,  and  prefent  a  profpeft  uncommonly  grotelque.  At  an  opening  between 
the  rocks,  towaids  the  clofe  of  the  valley,  there  is  a  noble  view  of  the  Britilh  channel 
and  the  Welfli  coaft.  The  fcenery  of  the  whole  country  in  the  neighbourhood  of  this 
curious  valley  is  wonderfully  ll;riking.(Z')     The  Valley  of  Stones  has  a  clofe  refemblancc 

Rlfdon  and  Weftcote.  The  latter  thus  expreffes  himfelf :  "  1  recall  myfelf  to  Moreton,  vpon  fight 
of  thofe  two  workes  which  fliew  themfelues  fo  great  and  huge,  they  are  diftant  one  from  the  other 
three  miles,  and  are  diftinguiflied  by  feverall  names  of  White,  one  and  Blackftone.  the  laft  feemeth 
fomevvhat  ftrange  to  all  beholders,  to  other  fome  a  learefull  wonder,  for  it  is  a  very  great  worke  fet 
vpon  another  of  much  leflfe  quantity,  which  it  overlayeth  ftar  on  e.ich  fyde.  And  e:iiboffed  with  fo 
great  a  bellye  that  many  men  and  beaf\s  may  be  fheltered  vnder  the  coverture  thereof  yet  fo  equally 
peazed  that  there  is  poe  ffeare  of  fFalling  though  it  feeme  at  firft  doubtful!."  Weftcote's  View 
(Portledge  M.S.)  p.  220. 

(j)  The  Valley  of  Stones  is,  in  fome  meafure,  indebted,  for  the  diftindtlon  to  which  it  hath  lately 
been  raifed,  to  Dr.  Pococke,  Bifliop  of  Upper-Offory,  who  vifited  it  fome  years  fince,  with  Dr. 
Wiiles,  Dean  of  Exeter. 

{b)  A  Gentleman,  who  lately  vlfited  this  v.alley,  was  fo  kind  as  to  communicate  the  following 
dcftription  of  it  to  the  Author:  "  At  the  lower  e-^d,  where  the  valley  of  ftones  was  the  widefti 
about  four  hundred  feet,  in  the  middle  (as  it  were  flopping  up  the  valley)  arofe  a  vail  bulwark  of 
rocks,  tier  upon  tier,  like  fome  gigantic  building  in  part  demoliflied  ;  and  the  ftones  that  compofed 
it  flung  acrofs  each  other  in  the  wlldeft  confufion — a  mafs  more  rude  and  enormous  tiian  any  1  had 
yet  obftrved.  More  than  half  of  the  valley  was  (hut  fiom  the  fea  by  its  bread  bafe,  which  tapermg 
by  degrees,  clofed  at  its  apex  in  a  conical  form.  The  imagination  wcuM  be  at  a  lofs  to  figure  a 
ruder  congeries  than  was  here  beheld.  Rocks  piled  upcn  rocks  at  one  time  in  unequal  and  rough 
layers;  at  another,  tranfverfe,  and  diagonally  inclined  againft  each  other;  in  fliort,  in  every  form 
pofl"ible  to  be  conceived;  threatening,  liowevtr,  every  moment  to  be  releafed  from  their  contiguity 
to  one  another,  and  to  precipitate  themftlvcs  into  the  valley  or  the  depth  of  waters.  On  the  left 
fide,  one  only  rock  attraftcd  my  notice.  This  projeded  boldly  from  the  inclining  fteep,  and  thruft- 
ing  itfelf  forward,  braved  tiie  cold  blafts  of  the  Severn  fea  with  its  broad  perpendicular  front  che- 
quered with  creeping  ivy,  and  teinted  with  variegated  mofs.  The  valley  loft  itfelf  rapidly,  on 
either  fide  the  conical  mountain  in  the  fea.  Beyond  it,  the  cliffs  rofe  higher  and  higher,  upright 
from  the  waters— towards  the  interior  country  tloathed  with  wood,  which  (though  at  a  diflance) 
formed  a  pleafmg  and  ftriking  contraft  v^itll  the  fcenery  on  this  fide,  which  had  nothing  of  the 
j>i<fluiefque  in  it,  but  comprized  every  thing  tliat  was  wild,  grand,  and  terrific." 

to 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  55 

to  fevenil  of  tliofe  fpots  in  Cornwall,  which  tradition  has  fanftified  with  the  venerable 
names  of  rock-idols,  Logan-llones,  or  rock-baions  :  And  the  north  of  Devon,  though  it 
may  furnifli  us  with  no  tiadition  of  the  Druids,  muft  yet  be  examined  with  an  eye  to 
druidical  antiquities.  If  the  hills  or  the  vallies  which  have  been  long  confecrated  to  the 
genius  of  the  Druids  of  Cornwall,  deferve  ib  high  an  honor,  I  have  little  doubt  but  that 
the  fame  diilinftion  is  due  to  thofe  romantic  Icenes  in  Devonshire,  which  hitherto  we 
have  been  led  to  view  with  an  incurious  eyej  or  to  admire,  perhaps,  for  their  rude  mag- 
nificence, whilft  we  carried  our  ideas  no  farther  than  the  objefts  themfelves.  Mot  that 
the  Druids  formed  theie  fcenes  :  No — they  only  availed  themfelves  of  fuch  recedes  ;  to 
which  they  annexed  fanftity,  by  commemorating  there,  the  rites  of  religi^>n.  The  rock- 
idols  are  furely  natural — as  natural  as  the  groves  of  Mona  :  But  as  they  fuited  the  fuper- 
ftition  of  the  times,  and  leived  to  add  a  folemnity  to  the  druidical  inllitutions,  the  policy 
of  thole  who  governed  the  devotions  of  the  multitude  turned  tliis  fantaftic  fcenery  to 
the  beft  account ;  and  I'ecured  the  public  reverence  by  imprefling  every  imaginatioa 
with  the  wild  and  the  terrible.  But  this  was  not  all.  Whilll  the  fancy  was  awed  with 
fuch  rude  grandeur,  an  attempt  was  made  to  attraft  admiration  by  fomething  that  bore 
the  appearance  of  art  -.  And  the  Druids  endeavoured  to  gain  credit  among  the  vulgar, 
for  the  extent  of  their  mechanical  powers,  by  pointing  to  objefts  which  to  a  carelefs  eye 
might  appear  an  artiiicial  ftrufture  more  than  a  natural  mafs,  the  effect  of  defign  and 
not  of  chance.  But  thofe  rocks  are,  undoubtedly,  natural  ;  though  fome  labor  was 
employed,  in  a  few  inilances,  to  make  them  look  artificial.  Nature,  or  fome  great  con- 
vulfion  in  nature,  left  thofe  rocks  in  their  prefent  fantiiftic  Itate  :  Or,  if  any  art  were 
applied  to  rock-idols,  it  was  only  to  remove  fome  earth,  or  fome  furrounding  ftones  from 
the  larger  or  more  curious  maCs  :  And,  then,  the  whole  would  put  on  the  tremendous 
appearance  which  it  now  bears.  The  whole  army  of  Xerxes  could  not  have  raifed,  by 
force  or  fjcill,  fuch  ledges  of  rock,  piled  up  in  the  Valley  of  Stones,  as  if  by  human  in- 
duftry.  The  moft  remarkable  rock-idol  in  this  valley  is  the  Cheefewring.  Lyttelton(fi) 
oblerves,  that  it  greatly  refembles  the  cheefewring  near  Alternon.  Between  Combmartin 
and  Linton  (fays  the  Dean)  {b)  and  oppofite  to  what  you  apprehend  to  be  a  Druid  gor- 
leddau,  is  a  karn  of  rocks,  which  they  call  the  Cheefewring.  It  is  much  like  that  at 
Alternon."  Dr.  Borlafe  has  taken  no  notice  of  the  cheefewring  at  Alternon;  but  he 
defcribes  a  wringcheefe  in  the  parifli  of  St.  Clere — "  a  groiipe  of  rocks  that  attrafts  the 
admiration  of  all  travellers."  The  whole  heap  of  Itone  (he  fays)  is  thirty-two  feet  hio-h : 
and  tlie  great  weight  of  the  ftones  above,  .and  the  llendernefs  of  thofe  below,  makes  every 
one  wonder  how  fo  ill -grounded  a  pile  could  refift  for  fo  many  ages  the  ftorms  of  fuch  an 
expofed  fituation.  It  may  feem  to  fome,  that  this  is  an  artificial  building  of  flat  ftones 
laid  carefully  on  one  another,  and  raifed  to  this  height  by  human  fkill  and  labor  :  But, 
as  there  are  feveral  heaps  of  ftones  on  the  fame  hill,  and  alfo  on  a  hill  about  a  mile  dif- 
tant,  called  Hell-marr,  of  like  fabrick  to  this,  though  not  near  fo  high,  I  ftiould  think  it 
a  natural  cragg,  and  that  what  ftones  furrounded  it  and  hid  its  grandeur,  were  removed 
by  the  Druids.  From  the  well-poifed  ftrufture,  and  the  great  elevation  of  the  groups 
(as  well  as  other  circumftances)  I  think  we  may  truly  reckon  it  among  the  rock-deities; 
and  that  its  tallnefs  and  nice  ballance  might  probably  be  intended  to  exprefs  the  ftateli- 
nefs  and  juitice  of  the  fupreme  Being,  (r)  Borlafe  dlfcovers  the  traces  of  Saturn,  Mars, 
and  Mercury,  in  the  names  of  leveral  places,  where  his  rock-idols  are  fituated.  Thus 
in  Bellevcr-Torr  upon  Daitmoor,  we  have  the  rock  of  Bel  or  Belus — in  Belfon,  at  its 
northern  extremity,  the  toiv?i  oj'  Belus — in  Miforr  the  rock  of  Mi/or — in  HeJ/ary-torr  the 

(a)  Afterwards,  Eifhop  of  Carli.le. 

lb)  In  a  letter  to  Milles. 

(f)  Borlafe's  Antiquities,  p.  165.  Perhaps  the  moil  curious  ftone-rleity  in  Cornwall,  is  that 
•'  vait  oval  pehble  jn  the  parifh  of  Conftantine,  which  is  placed  on  the  points  of  two  natural  rocks. 
The  longeft  diameter  of  this  rtone  is  thirty-three  feet,  pointing  due  north  and  fouth  :  And  it  is 
fourteen  feet  fix  inches  deep.  Sec  Borlafe's  Antiquities,  (i)p]ate  XI.  p.  166.  Avery  ingenious 
friend  lately  informed  me,  that  he  had  long  confidered  this  To/men  as  "  Cutbitc,  and  as  a  reprefenta- 
tion  of  the  ARK  refting  on  Mount  ylrarc-t.''  He  once  fuggefted  this  idea  to  Mr.  Bryant,  who, 
pn  locking  at  the  plate  in  Borlafe,  was  ffruck  at  the  conjefture,  and  thought  it  extremely  probable. 
■jThe  Tolinen  is,  undoubtedly,  an  exaft  figure  of  the  Ark. 

(i;  lui'dibed  •■'  so  the  Rev.  Chailes  Lyttekon,  L.  L.D.  Dean  of  Exeter." 

rock 


5&  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

rock  of  Hffus.  Thus  Hamforr,  alfo,  was  the  rock  oi  Ham  or  Amman  -.  And  the  numerous 
(a)Hams  in  Devonfliire,  all  carry  us  to  tl\e  I'ume  original.  This  niuch  tor  the  Rock -Idol. 
The  Leg.in  or  Rocking-Stone  rauft,  alib,  be  noticed  among  the  rude  llone-monuments 
oftheDruidi.  Pliny  hath,  evidently,  the  Logaji-llone  in  view,  when  he  tells  us,  that 
at  Harp.ifa,  a  town  of  Afia,  was  a  rock  of  a  wonderful  nature.  *'  Lay  one  fingtr  on  it 
and  it  will  itfr;  but  thruft  at  it  with  your  whole  body,  and  it  will  not  move."(^)  There 
IS  another  ^iirage  in  Pliny's  Natural  Hilloiy,  extremely  appofite  to  the  prefent  l"ub;eft  : 
Vet  I  liave  never  ieen  it  quoted  in  any  account  of  thefe  natural  or  artificial  wonders. 
*'  Tails  (Colofms)  et  Tarenti  faSlus  a  Lyfippo  XL  cubitorum.  Mirum  hi  eo,  quod  manu,  ut 
fe>-unt,  tnohilis,  en  raUone  I'lhramtnti  fji,  ut  nullis  ccnuellatur  proccUis :  I J  quod  pro-vidijfe 
gt  artifex  dicitur,  medico  iiitewaUo,  unde  tnaxitne  flatum  opus  craf  j'raKgi,  oppo/ita  columna. 
ttaque  propter  magpiitudinem  difficultatemque  yno-uindi  r.cn  attigit  eum  Fabius  Ferrucofus^ 
cum  HercuUfn  qui  tji  in  capitolio  inde  transferret.^'{c)  In  Wales,  this  ftone  is  called  Y  Maen 
Sigi,  that  is,  the  Shaking-fotie.  But,  "  in  Cornwall,  we  call  this  ftone  Logan  (fays  Rorlafe) 
the  meaning  of  which  I  do  not  underftand."  This  is  fmgular.  In  the  language  of  the 
vulgai",  X.ologg\s  to  mo-ve  to  ar.dfro:{d)  It  is  a  frequent  word  both  in  Cornwall  and 
Devon,  at  the  prefent  day  :  And  it  always  implies  this  kind  of  vibratory  motion,  (f)  Tohuid 
feenis  to  be  of  opinion,  that  the  Logan-ftone  was  placed  in  its  prefent  pofition  by  human 
art.  But,  in  general,  it  is  thus  nicely  balanced  by  the  hand  of  nature.  In  the  parifh 
of  Drewfteignton,  under  Piddledown,  and  in  the  cliarmel  of  the  Teign,  is  a  druidical 
monument  of  this  defcription.  The  Mo-z'ing-rock  is  thus  polled  upon  another  mafs  of 
ftone,  which  is  deep-grounded  in  the  bed  of  the  river:  It  is  unequally  fided,  of  great 
Cze,  at  fome  parts  fix,  at  others  feven  feet  in  height,  and  at  the  weft  end,  ten.  From  its 
weft  to  eaft  points,  it  may  be  in  length  about  eighteen  feet.  It  is  flattifli  on  the  top.  It 
ftems  to  touch  the  ftone  below  in  no  lefs  than  three  or  four  places;  but,  probably,  it  is 
the  gravel  which  the  floods  have  left  between,  that  caules  this  appearance.  I  eafily  rock'd 
it  with  one  hand  ;  but  its  quantit)'  of  motion  did  not  exceed  one  inch,  if  fo  much.  The 
equipoife,  however,  was  more  perceptible  a  few  years  fmce  :  And  it  was,  probably,  b.i- 
lanced  v.ith  fuch  nicety'  in  former  times,  as  to  move  with  theftighteft  touch.  It  is  remark- 
able, that  tlie  furface  of  the  lower  ftone  is  fomewhat  Hoping,  fo  that  it  fnould  feem  eafy  to 
ihove  oft' the  upper  ftone  ;  but  the  united  efibrts  of  a  number  of  men,  who  endeavoured  to 
dilplace  it,  had  not  the  fmalleft  effect.  Both  the  ftones  ai-e  granite,  which  is  thick  ftrewn 
in  the  channel  of  the  river,  and  over  all  the  adjacent  country.  It  feems  to  have  been  the 
work  of  nature.  Shall  we  fuppofe  that  it  has  fubfifted  fi-om  the  beginning  ;  or  that  the 
upper  ftone  fell  from  the  rocks  of  the  adjoining  fteep ;  or  was  left  here  by  the  deluge  ?  On 
tlie  brow^  of  a  hill,  near  the  fame  river,  at  Holy-ftreet,  in  the  parifti  of  Chagford,  is  ano- 
t'ler  Logan-ftone.  It  is  not  fo  large  as  that  at  Drewfteignton  ;  is  more  eafily  moved,  and 
rocks  more.  I  thought  I  difcovered  a  cavity  in  the  centre  of  the  furface  of  the  lower 
ftone,  ieeming  to  receive  a  correfponding  part  of  the  upper.  That  this  Logan-ftone  is  the 
work  of  art,  copied  by  the  Dl-uids  from  fimilar  ones  in  nati.u-e,  would  not  admit  of  a 
doubt,  if  the  circumftance  of  the  mortice  wereCf)  afcertaiued.     The  fcenery  aroimd  the 

Drewfteignton 

[a)  Places  confecrated  to  the  god  Hav.,  or  colonized  by  Han  the  Jin  of  Kcah,  afterwards  wor- 
iiipped  as  a  god  under  various  forms. 

(*)   Pliny— Lib.  II.  c.  6v;.  (.:)  L.  34,  c.  7. 

{d)  So  a  Corniih  tinner  explained  the  word  to  me :  And,  on  A/hburton-Downs,  a  common  la- 
hoiirer,  on  niy  me.Mtioring  a  rock'ng-ftone,  inftantly  called  it  a  /-^js-rock.  On  my  afking  him  the 
mcaninjc  of  i^gaK,  he  fajd  :  •'  fi"!^};  be  ligri  (moves)  to  end  _/V«." 

[e]  Hift.  Druid,  p.  105. 
'  (f)  Before  1  bar!  paid  a  vlfit  to  tbe  Logan-ftones,  I  received  the  following  remarks  on  the  druidi- 
cal fcenery  of  Drtv.^lcifnton  and  tht  neighbourhood,  from  a  gentleman,  whofe  keen  infight  into 
amiqiiititi  excites  my  admiration,  whilft  Iiis  good-nature  and  uiiaffedcd  manner  of  communicating 
h>  difcoveries,  jx>  lef'i  a-.vsken  my  gratifude.  "  On  the  very  edge  of  the  river  Teign,  is  a  moft 
fnormo\»s  ftone,  or  piece  cf  rock,  fuj.>ported  on  the  fharp  points  of  two  others,  in  fuch  a  manner, 
that  t!,i.  flone  wiiich  hangs  over  them,  may  be  fet  in  motion  by  a  man,  and  will  vibrate  backwards 
and  forwards  wirh  an  appearance  as  if  it  v/ould  fail  into  the  river  :  Ytx.  no  power  or  force  can  dif- 
place  it.  'J  his  hang'ng-lione  13  nearly  the  fize  of  that  wliich  coveis  the  thiee  pillars  at  Drewfteign- 
ton. On  each  fide  of  the  banks  of  t!:c  Teign,  and  tiiroughout  the  jjarifli  of  Chagford,  the  fields 
and  road';  'vere  covered  with  huge  fior.£3,  not  quite  io  large  as  thofe  at  Diev.fteignton  or  at  Stickle- 
patli,  but  which  have,  aUo,   the  appearance  of  tk-n.    Large  clufters  of  them  are  feen  in  fome 

ground' 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  5? 

Drewfteio-nton  Logan-ftone  has  an  uncommon  grandeur.  The  path  that  leads  to  it  by 
the  margin  of  the  river  Teign,  winds  along,  beneath  the  precipitous  hill  of  Piddle-down.- 
This  hill  riies  niajeltically  high,  to  the  north  :  And,  at  the  greateft  diltance,  is  feen  a 
channel,  like  a  llreamwork,  evidently  formed  by  the  floods,  which  have  wulhed  down, 
in  many  places,  the  natural  foil  into  the  river,  and  left  it  bare  and  rocky,  or  fandy.  On 
the  other  fide  of  the  Teign,  -^  id  oppofite  to  this  hill,  the  richnefs  of  V/hiddon-park  forma 
a  beautiful  contralt  with  theie  craggy  declivities.  Such  is  this  druidical  fc3nery,  which 
infpires  even  the  cultivated  mind  with  a  ibrt  of  religious  terror.  We  need  not  wonderj 
then,  that  the  ignorant  multitude  were  llruck  with  allonilhment  at  the  fearful  magnifi- 
cence of  every  objeiSt,  whether  they  turned  their  eyes  up  the  Iteep  where  the  rocks 
frowned  over  them,  or  whether  they  looked  onward  through  the  valley,  where  foamed 
the  waters  ot  the  Teign  ;  fmce,  to  the  vulgar,  evety  rock  was  a  god,  or  the  refidence  of 
fbme  fniritual  intelligence,  and  evert  the  gloom  it  Ihed  was  facred — iince  the  river  was 
the  habitation  of  genii,  by  whofe  agency  its  waters  were  reif  rained  within  its  banks,  or 
burrt  forth  to  deluge  the  country.  Amidft  fuch  a  fcene,  therefore,  the  Logan  ftone. 
Which,  donbtlefs,  acquired  a  more  than  common  degree  of  fanftity  from  its  pofition  ia 
the  very  channel  of  the  river,  rrtuft  have  been  an  admirable  engine  of  prieilcraft,  and 
have  operated  on  the  multitude  precifely  as  the  Druids  wiflied.  In  the  pariih  of  Withe- 
combe,  between  Withecombe-church  and  Rippen  Torr,  there  is  a  Logan-ftone,  of  a 
roundifli  form,  meafuring  eleven  feet  in  diameter.  It  is  called  the  Nutcrackers ;  having 
been  the  reibrt  of  the  common  people,  daring  the  nut  feafon,  for  the  purpofe  of  crack- 
ino-  their  nuts.  But  in  conlequence  of  its  being  thus  frequented,  the  owner  of  the  eftata 
where  it  fcood  (if  I  was  rightly  informed)  got  it  removed  from  its  ancient  pofition  :  So 
that  it  is,  at  prefent,  motionlels ;  though,  before  it  was  difplaced,  it  was  made  to  vibrate 
by  a  very  little  force.  On  Eaft-down,  in  the  parifii  of  Manaton,  is  a  Logan-ftone,  called 
in  the  neighbourhood  the  {a)  JVboopinr-rcck,  from  the  nolle  which  it  ufed  to  make, 
when  fet  in  motion  by  the  winds.  In  ftormy  weather,  it  might  be  heard  at  the  diftance 
of  at  leaft  three  miles,  with  the  wind.  A  few  years  ago,  feveral  perfons  moved  it  by 
main  force,  oif  its  balance  :  So  that  it  loggs  no  more.  _  It  is  evidently  a  druidical  Logan- 
ftone — and' has  been  venerated  by  the  fuperftitious  neighbourhood  as  an  enchanted  rock, 
from  the  time  of  the  Druids  to  the  preient  day ;  And  the  hands  that  wantonly  difpiaced 
it  from  its  primitive  pofition,  are  execrated  by  the  viilageri  around,  as  having  profanely- 
violated  the  fpirit  of  the  rock.  Two  ledges  of  ftone  run  parallel  to  each  other,  with  a 
confiderable  opening  between  them  ;  or  rather  one  large  rock,  departed  by  fome  violent 
convulfion.  A  ftone  was  placed  at  the  weft  end  of  the  fouth  ledge,  on  one  little  point. 
This,  then,  was  the  Logan-ftone,  that  moved  at  the  llightcft  touch,  whilft  it  preferved 
its  equipoife.  Near  theValley  of  Stones,  there  is  a  Logan-ftone  on  the  top  of  a  very  high 
cliff.  The  upper  ftone  is  of  a  different  quality  from  that  on  which  it  j-efts.  it  is  more 
folid  and.  gritty:  A  large  piece  of  rock  is  fallen  on  \t.{b) — The  ufe  of  the  Logan- 
ftone  is  uncertain.     According  to  Toland,  "  the  Druids  made  the  people  believe,  tlial; 

grounds  adjoining  toWhlddon-park  :  And  on  a  high  hill,  juft  above  the  houfe  of  a  Mr.  Southmead, 
there  is  a  huge  mafs,  fupported  at  one  end  by  an  enormous  pillar,  and  the  other  end  leaning  againfl 
the  hill."     I  can  only  arid,  that  in  confcquence  of  thefe  remarks,  1  have  narrowly  infpeded  all  this 

fcenery with  a  flrong  prepofl'efTion  on  my  mind,  that  it  was,  in  a  great  nieafure,  artificial.     I  was 

almoft  determined  to  convert  every  clufter  of  ftones  into  a  ruin:  But  I  was  much  difappointed  oi> 
viewing  thefe  phenomena.  They  are  certainly  natural.  If  they  are  ruins,  they  are  the  ruins  only 
of  nature,  deluged  by  torrents  or  convulfed  by  earthquakes. 

{a)  Giraldus  Cambrenfis  mentions  a  large  flat  ftone,  ten  feet  long,  fix  wide,  and  one  foot  thick, 
which  in  his  time  ferved  a?  a  bridge  over  the  river  Alun,  in  Pembroke(>iire.  It  was  called  in  Bri- 
ti(h,  Lech  La^var,  that  is,  the  Speaking-Jione :  And  the  vulgar  tradition  was,  that  when  a  de:id  body 
happened  to  be  carried  over,  this  ftone  fpoke,  and  with  the  fbruggle  of  the  voice  cracked  in  the 
middle;  and  the  chink,  from  which  the  voice  iffued,  was  then  to  be  feen.  Poffibly,  this  tradition 
might  be  owing  to  its  having  been  once  in  a  fituation  to  make  a  whooping  found  ;  like  the  fVhocping" 
rock  or  Logan- ftcne  of  Manaton. 

{b)  Mr.  Badcock  fays,  "  that  he  cannot  be  certain  that  it  ever  moved."  But  his  correfpondent 
informs  him,  that  "  fome  years  ago,  there  was  a  rock  in  the  Valley  of  Stones  that  was  balanced 
and  moved,  but  that  one  of  the  fragments  near  it  having  fallen  through  dec^y,  the  end  relied  and 
flill  refts  on  this  llone,  fo  that  it  can  no  longer  be  moved.  From  the  whole  of  what  I  have  heard 
of  it,-  fays  this  gentleman,  I  have  no  doubt  but  thefe  rocky  fragments  we  the  ruins  oi  a  Druid 
temple." 

Vol.  T.  H  they 


jS  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE, 

they  alone  could  move  thefe  ftones,  and  by  a  niiracle  only,  by  which  pretended  miracle, 
they  condemned  or  acquitted  the  acculed,  and  often  brought  criminals  to  confel's,  what 
could  in  no  other  way  be  extorted  from  them."(«)  And,  I'urely,  it  is  not  improbable, 
that  the  Druids  dilcovering  this  uncommon  property  in  the  natural  Logan-ftones, 
ioon  learned  to  make  iile  of  it  as  an  occafioniU  miracle,  and  that  they  confecrated  arti- 
ficial Logan-rocks,  where  nature  had  not  already  prepared  them.  Spirits  were  then 
reported  to  inhabit  thefe  rociis;  the  vibratory  motion  I  have  defcribed,  was  adduced  in 
proof  of  this  ;  and,  to  complete  the  whole,  the  Logan-llone  became  an  idol. 

The  two  Druidical  monuments  which  I  have  now  reprefented,  are  both  fo  rude,  and' 
of  fuch  dirterent  fizes,  that  to  convey  a  jult  notion  of  their  form,  is  impoflible.  They 
are,  indeed,  in  a  great  meal'ure,  natural.  But  it  is  their  enormity,  the  fingularity  of 
their  pofition,  the  curiouiriefs  of  their  combination,  and  the  grotefqae  appearance  of 
furrounding  objefts,  that  fuegelt  the  idea  of  their  druidical  fanitity.  Yet  the  Rock-idol 
and  the  Logan-ltone  have  frequently  lefs  dubious  marks  of  Druidifm.  The  Rzck-bafen, 
■which  is  often  found  on  both,  is  a  veftige  of  the  Druids,  lefs  equivocal.  The  hollo-MS  or 
artificial  bafons,  funk  into  the  furface  of  the  rocks,  aie  monuments  of  a  very  fmgular 
kind.  They  are  generally  found  on  the  highell  hills,  and  on  the  tops  of  the  moll  con- 
fpicuous  karns.  They  are  never  feen  on  the  fide  of  rocks,  but  always  on  the  top  ;  their 
openings  horizontally  facing  the  heavens.  Thefe  bafons  are  not  uniform  in  their 
fhape  :  fome  are  quite  irregular,  fome  oval,  and  fome  are  exactly  circular.  Their  fize 
is  from  fix  feet  to  a  few  inches  in  diameter.  Some  have  lips  or  outlets  :  Others  have 
none.  The  fraaller  bafons  have  often  little  falls  into  a  larger  bafon,  which  receives 
their  tribute,  and  detains  it,  having  no  outlet.  Other  large  bafons,  intermixed  with 
little  ones,  have  paflages  from  one  to  ajiother,  and  by  fucceflive  falls  uniting,  tranfmit 
what  they  receive  into  one  common  bafon,  which  has  a  drain,  that  lerves  itfelf,  and 
all  the  baions  above  it.  Dr.  Borlafe's  remaiks  on  Rock-bafons,  are  to  this  purpose : 
And  my  own  oblervations  have  confirmed  the  truth  of  them.  Of  the  bafons  on  the 
Rock-idols,  the  following  have  fallen  under  my  notice.  On  a  rock,  at  no  great  dif- 
ance  from  the  cataract  in  Chriftow,  is  a  bafon  of  this  defcription  :  And  there  are 
leveral  Rock-bafons  on  the  top  of  that  vaft  pile  of  ftone,  at  the  end  of  the  Druidical 
down  in  Drevvfteignton.  On  WiUingstone-rock,  in  Moretonhampftead,  are  two  Rock- 
bafons.  Kcjlor-rock,  on  the  ealt  fide  of  Dartmoor,  and  Hcytorr  on  the  S.  E.  border  of 
the  foreft,  on  Afliburton  downs,  are  natural  rocks,  rifing  out  of  the  earth  :  But  they 
have  frnall  hajcns  hollowed  out  on  their  tops ;  of  which  fome  will  hold  four  or  five 
gallons,  being  two  feet  or  more  in  diameter,  and  from  fix  to  ten  inches  deep.  There 
is  a  flight  of  Iteps,  regularly  cut  out,  in  Heytorr-rock,  by  which  the  Dniids  might  afcend 
to  the  bafon  on  the  top,  and  perform  the  accuftomed  ceremonies,  whilft  the  multitudes 
were  affembled  below.  In  Withecorabe  parifh,  Miltorr  muft  have  been  a  rock  in  high 
eftimation  with  the  Druid  prieilhood.  On  the  top  ledge  of  ftone  (which  is  twelve 
feet  by  eight)  there  are  four  bafnns.  The  largeft  bafon  is  two  feet  three  quarters ;  the 
fecond,  one  foot  three  quarters;  the  third,  one  foot  and  one  quarter;  the  fourth, 
one  foot.  The  firft  and  fourth,  are  placed  fouth ;  the  lecond,  due  ealt  j  the  third, 
north.  Thefe  Rock-bafons  have,  each  of  them,  a  lip :  But  they  do  not  communicate 
as  is  the  cafe  in  fome  monuments  of  this  kind.  To  one  of  thele  bafons  there  are  little 
dufts,  defigned  to  lead  the  water  from  the  inclined  plane  into  the  cavity.  From  this 
eminence  of  Miltorr,  a  wild  collection  of  kurns  are  feen,  at  various  dillances,  confifting 
of  different  fpecies  of  granite,  unmixed  with  any  other  ftone — fuch  as  Belt-torr — Benjie- 
torr Yarter-toiT — Quarnell-torr — Sharper-torr. — OnBel-torr,  are  two  ver>'  large  Rock- 
bafons,  orv  one  detached  fragment  of  rock ;  and  one  Rock-bafon  on  another  fragment 
of  rock.  They  are  all  without  lips ;  and  on  the  very  verge  of  the  rocks — which  is  al- 
ways, indeed,  the  cafe.  The  fragment  (for  fuch  I  call  it  n-om  its  appearance)  on  which 
the  two  bafons  appear,  is  at  fome  diftance  from  the  other  enormous  malles  of  ftone. 
Benjie-torr  is  a  bare  ftone  hill — Yarter-torr  confifts  of  large  ledges  of  rock,  irregularly 

piled Quarnell-torr  will  occur  among  the  barrows — On  Sharper-torr  there  is  a  bafon, 

on  the  edge  of  the  rock,  with  one  lip.  On  Dartmoor,  within  the  limits  of  the  parifli  o£ 
Holn,  there  are  various  grotefque  rocks,  with  bafons.  On  Ventorr,  in  Dartmoor, 
are  four  bafons,  cut  on  the  top  ftone,  each  about  two  feet  in  diameter.  On  the  Logan- 
rock  which  I  liave  defcribed,  in  the  channel  of  the  Teign,  is  a  bafon  of  an  elliptical 

(j)  Hift.  of  the  Druids,  p.  203. 

fornif 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  59 

form.  The  above  are  the  Rock-bafons  which  I  have  had  an  opportunity^  of  noticing  in 
Devon.  And  they  correfpond  with  Borkfe's  defcription  of  the  Rock- batons  in  Corn- 
wall. But  many  of  thefe  bafons  are  mere  natural  hollows.  And  their  formation  is  to 
be  attributed  to  the  water.  The  furflice  of  the  rocks  was,  at  firlt,  rugged :  And  rain- 
water, repeatedly  falling,  and  naturally  refting  in  the  little  hollo\vs,  would  wear  them 
into  deep  hollows.  Yet  there  are,  furely,  Rock-bafons  that  are  not  owing  to  fuch  attri- 
tion ;  particularly  thofe  which  have  lips  :  Moll  of  the  lip-hollows  are,  confefledly,  arti- 
ficial. With  refpeft  to  the  ufe  of  thele  bafons,  I  think  we  may  eafily  conjeflure,  that 
they  were  contrived  by  the  Druids,  as  receptacles  of  water,  for  the  purpofe  of  external 
purifications  by  wafhing  and  fprinkling.  The  lites  of  water-luftration  and  ablution, 
were  too  frequent  among  the  Aliatics,  not  to  be  known  to  the  Druids,  who  refembled 
the  eaftern  nations  in  all  their  religious  ceremonies,  faftiions  and  cuiloms.  In  the  chan- 
nelled bafons,  the  lips  are  generally  pointing  to  that  part  of  the  ftone,  whence  the  water 
collected,  might  be  moft  conveniently  dil'charged  into  fome  vellel  placed  below.  Of  thofe 
which  have  no  lips,  the  larger  cavity  hath  often  a  number  of  little  bafons  in  its  circum- 
ference, to  fupply  it  with  their  tributary  water.  From  fuch  batons,  the  officiating  Druid 
might  fanftify  the  congregation  with  a  more  facred  luftration  than  ufual.  In  this  water 
he  might  mix  his  mifletoe,  or  infufe  his  oak  leaves,  for  a  medicinal  or  incantatorial  po- 
tion. But  on  the  Logan-ftone  (whether  channelled  or  otherwile)  the  motion  of  the 
ftone  might  lb  agitate  the  water,  as  to  delude  the  multitude  by  a  pretended  miracle  ; 
whilft  it  extorted  confefllon  of  crimes  from  the  guilty  or  accufed,  fatisfied  the  credulous, 
and  reconciled,  in  fiiort,  the  minds  of  the  people  to  the  druidical  decifions  which  it 
fanftified. 

Hitherto,  I  have  noticed  only  huge  mafles  of  mifliapen  rock.  I  fliall  now  proceed  to 
mai^k  the  monuments  of  Druidifm,  which  affume  a  lefs  irregular  appearance  :  Such  are 
the  ftones  of  a  columnar  form,  which,  though  fufficiently  lough,  fliew,  in  their  pofition 
at  leaft,  the  hand  of  man.  Firft,  for  the  ^/»^/^  Stone  ereil. — The  Single  Stone  ereil  was 
frequent  among  the  earlieft  inhabitants  of  the  world.  The  patriarch  Jacob  railed  feveral 
of  thefe  pillars,  as  religious  monuments :  And  Jofiiua  fet  up  a  great  ftone  under  an  oak, 
that  was  by  the  fanftuary  of  the. Lord.  The  Gentiles  erefted  pillars  of  the  fame  kind, 
in  every  country,  for  the  purpofes  of  fuperftition.  They  worllaipped,  indeed,  the  pillar  : 
And  it  hath  been  conjeftured,  not  without  reafon,  that  the  appearance  of  "  God  in  a 
pillar  of  fire  by  night,"  might  have  given  rife  to  this  fpecies  of  idolatiy.  That  the  Ca- 
naanites  worlhipped  thefe  pillars  as  gods,  we  learn  from  feveral  texts  in  fcripture. 
*•'  Neither  ftialt  thou  rear  up  a  ftanding  pillar ;  nor  fet  up  any  image  of  ftone  in  your 
land  to  bow  down  unto  it."  Yet  the  Jews,  thougK  thus  ejjpreflly  forbidden  to  imitate 
tlie  people  of  Canaan,  let  up  pillars  oii  every  high  hill,  and  beneath  every  green  tree. 
To  this  we  may  add,  that  the  Brachmans  profeifed  to  worfliip  the  deity  under  the 
iigure  of  a  little  column  of  ftone.  Thole  countries,  which  had  any  communication  with 
Syria,  ^gypt,  or  Greece,  very  foon  adopted  this  idolatrous  pnailice.  In  this  country, 
there  are  a  great  number  of  high  ftones,  ftill  ftanding  in  many  places.  The  Single  Stone 
ereB,  was  fometimes  a  fepulchral  monument.  To  mark  the  fpot  where  (lie  was  buried, 
Jacob  fet  a  pillar  upon  the  grave  of  Rachel.  Thus,  alfo,  the  burial-place  of  Bohan, 
the  fon  of  Reuben,  was  diltinguifhed.  Ilus  was  buried  in  this  manner,  on  the  plain 
before  the  city  of  Troy  :  And  the  barrow  and  the  pillar  are  mentioned  in  Homer,  as 
"  the  meed  of  the  dead."  Tlie  monuments  of  this  kind,  which  Borlai'e  hath  defcribed 
as  druidical,  are  plain  columns  of  ftone,  without  the  leaft  infcription.  Longilone,  in 
the  parifh  of  Eaft  Worlington,  is,  perhaps,  a  druidical  pillar.  It  is  fituated  in  a  farm, 
called  Stone,  about  a  mile  to  the  north  of  Drayford,  at  a  little  diftance  on  the  left  hand 
from  the  turnpike  road  leading  from  Drayford  to  Southmolton.  The  farm,  doubtlefs, 
derived  its  name  from  this  monument.  It  is  perfeilly  rough,  as  if  cut  out  of  the  rock. 
Its  elevation  is  about  fix  feet ;  and  it  is  thirteen  inches  fquare.  Though  it  inclines,  at 
prefent,  a  little  to  the  fouth,  yet  at  firft  it  was  erefted  perpendicularly.  This  incli- 
jiation  is  faid  to  have  been  occafioned  by  a  man's  digging  under  it,  in  hopes  of  hidden 
treafure.  But  its  depth  below  the  furface  of  the  ground,  is  nearly  equal,  we  are  told, 
to  its  elevation.  Stanborough-Rock  may  be  feen  from  the  road  between  Morleigh  and 
Harberton-Ford.  It  has  been  called  a  druidical  pillar  :  But  it  appears  more  like  a  natu- 
ral rock.  In  this  manner  were  pillars  erefted,  fingly  ;  And  t^oo,  three,  or  7nore  columns, 
were,  alfo,  afiembled  for  various  purpofes. — With  refpeft  to  the  tn.vo  ftone  monuments, 
it  is  thought  that  they  originated  among  the  oriental  nations,  in  honor  of  their  two  divi- 

VoL.  I.  Ha  nitiesj 


6o  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

nities,  the  fun  and  the  moon,  (a)  And  tlie  graves  of  confiderable  perfons  were  often 
dilUnguilhtd  by  an  ereded  ftone  at  each  end  of  the  body  interred.  Of  the  t-ivo 
fion.-  nioniunents,  tlie  moll  famous  were  the  pillai's  of  Hercules,  erefted  at  tlie  ancient 
Gad  ;.  as  terminations  of.  his  wellcrn  travels.  They  are  called  aiJ.fifoaia,i  'jrelpxi.  In 
the  fame  manner,  two  pillars  are  (aid  to  have  been  ere(51:ed  in  honor  of  Hercules,  at 
(b  J  He  rtla/t  J-pomt,  or  the  Promontory  of  Hercules,  in  Devonfhire  :  And  at  .?/ar/-point, 
tl^ere  aie  ftill  the  remains  of  columns,  it  is  fuppoied,  in  memory  of  the  Phenician  Ajlarte. 
VVeltcote  has  delcribed /ifo  ftone  pillars  near  the  village  of  Keiineford.(f)     Of  three 

ftones 

{a\  In  places  of  ancient  fepulture,  we  fometlmes  find  three  ftones,  placed  In  fuch  a  manner  as 
to  conilirute  one  monument  j  where  three  perfons  were,  perhaps,  interred.  A  number  of  ftones 
were  irequently  eredled,  ns  memorials  of  particular  circumftances  or  incidents.  Elij-h  built  an  altar, 
compofed  of  r.velve  ftones,  according  to  the  number  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Ifrael. 

{b)  At  Hdtland,  according  to  Richard  of  Cirencefter  (than  whom  no  better  authority  can  be  cited) 
were /i;7/<jri  commemorative  of  i/c-rfu/cj.  At  yfr/joi.-a  "  T/j/unrwr  Herculis  Column.*."  Ricard. 
p.  2C. 

(r)  "  Then  this  Ryveret  nameth  a  village  Ken-ford,  throughe  which  yt  f^eeteth.  And  here  is  a 
fytt  oppertunitie  of^Ved  to  tell  you  of  a  wonder,  or  old  fable,  or  what  you  pleafe  to  think  yt.  I  could 
well  forbear  to  relate  yt,  but  I  intend  not  to  ftem  the  tyde,  but  fwymme  with  the  ftrcam  and  cur- 
rent of  the  world  :  for  I  think  (let  me  well  remember)  I  have  fcen  fewe  men  in  my  tyme,  which 
were  free  from  fpeakinge  fom  foli(h  (at  leaft  ydle  vayn  commentitious  fancye)  at  one  tyme  or  other. 
But  his  fortune  is  worft  that  fpeakes  them  in  earneft  and  with  affedlation  ;  curioufly  and  ambItU 
oufly  feekinge  to  procure  credyt  and  belief,  when  litde  or  none  is  due.  It  fhall  not  rightly  be  fayd 
of  me :  yf  yt  be,  I  reckon  not. 

Ne  ifte  magno  coiutu  magnas  nugas  dixerit. 
This  fellow  (fure)  with  much  a-doe, 
Will  tell  ftrange  tales  and  triffles  too. 

It  fliall  not  byte  mc.  Ycu  ftiall  have  yt  frely  at  the  fame  price  It  coft  me,  and  In  the  fame  mea- 
fure  as  near  as  I  can. 

Somwhat  above  this  village  as  you  difcend  from  the  great  hill  of  Haldowne  toward  Exefter,  at 
the  focte  whereof  ftood  along  tyme  (I  cannot  fay  now  ftand)  two  ftones,  pitched  on  the  ends, 
which  to  ilrang  traveyllers  feemed  to  be  ther  placed  for  paflengers  with  the  more  eafe  (efpecially 
woemen,  which  then  perchanc  were  net  ufed  to  be  lyfted  upp,  and  in  that  age  went  not  in  coaches) 
to  take  ther  horfe  ;  for  commonly  all  men  walk  down  that  fteep  difcent.  But  from  the  neighbours, 
and  thoes  that  anciently  dwelled  neer  yt,  you  liave  another  and  ftranger  relation. 

They  firft  name  them  the  gyants  ftones.  And  they  fay  by  an  ancient  tradition,  that  a  gyant  {(o 
men  of  an  extraordinary  ftature  are  called,  and  fome  fuch  men  are  feen  in  every  agge,)  was  there 
buried,  who  not  only  for  his  large  bulke,  and  length,  but  for  his  ftrength  and  valour  furpafled  (by 
firr)  all  men  of  his  tyme.  And  that  1  fplnne  not  out  the  thread  of  this  tale  at  a  farder  length,  how 
he  fejl  here  fodenly  down  dead,  and  the  caufe  of  his  death  worth  (I  can  tell  you  by  a  good  fyre 
fyde  in  a  winters  cold  night,)  the  hearinge,  that  he  was  buried  in  this  place.  And  thes  two  ftones 
were  placed  one  at  his  head  and  the  other  at  his  feete  ;  which  exprefled  him  to  be  no  pigmye,  but 
of  the  longeft  fize ;  yet  not  peradventure  fo  large  as  he  whona  the  noble  poet  (by  a  hyperbolical 
licence)  defcribetli  thus : 

His  legges  two  pillars,  and  to  fee  him  goe 
He  feem'd  fome  fteeple  reeyling  to  and  fro. 

But  the  wonder  was,  that  albeit  the  placinge  of  thes  two  ftgnes,  fhewed  wher  his  head  and  feet 
lay,  yet  the  true  lengthe  of  his  ftature,  could  never  be  dyredtly  knowen.  For  meafure  the  diftanc 
betweene  them  as  often  as  you  would,  yet  fhould  you  not  take  yt  twice  togetlier  alyke  equall :  but 
at  everye  feverall  tyme,  ther  would  be  fom  difference,  longer  or  fliorter.  What  fallacye  ther  was 
J  cannot  conceive,  but  that  report  "vas  general!,  yea  and  by  fuch  whoes  credit  was  not  to  be  quef- 
tioried,  that  eytlier  themfelves  had  found  yt  fo  by  tryall,  or  heard  yt  by  thofe  affirmed,  of  the  truth 
of  whoes  rtljtion  no  doubt  or  miftruft  was  to  be  made.  But  to  call  them  now  to  witnefle  is  need- 
lefle.  Yet  v.ouUl  I  not  perfuade  you  to  believe  more  of  this,  then  of  other  of  lyke  nature.  As 
mayn  Amber  llone  In  Cornwall,  yet  to  be  perceived,  a  huge  rock  fencibly  moving  to  and  fro  (a« 
tis  verified)  by  power  of  a  finger  :  but  not  to  be  removed  by  the  ftrength  of  many  ftioulders,  as 
^h?s  verfes  fay. 

Be  thou  thy  mother  natures  worke 

Or  proof  of  gyants  might, 
Worthlefle  and  ragged,  though  thou  fliew, 
Yet  art  thou  worth  the  f)ght. 

This 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  6i 

ftones  fo  placed  as  to  conftitute  one  monument,  I  know  no  inftances  in  Devonlhire  • 
tliough  Wormius  tells  us,  that  Speed,  in  his  delcription  of  Devon,  hath  mentioned  forae 
ftones  on  Exmoor,  triangulurly  difpofed.  "J.  Speed  in  defcriptione  De'von.  ad  Ex  more 
Saxa  in  Triangulum,  alia  in  orbem  erecla  (trophaa  certe  'vidoriarum  quas  Romani  Sax- 
ones,  'vel  Dani  obtinuerunt )  ac  Danicis  Uteris  unum  itijcribi  refert.^\a)     All  this  is  deful- 

tory.     Thefe  ftones  erect  are  Roman,  Saxon,  or  Daniih  :    And  why  not  Britifh  ? Of 

an  indefinite  number  of  pillars,  not  in  a  circular  direftion,  the  down  in  Drewfteignton 
near  the  Cromlech,  furnilhes  us  with  a  itriking  fpecimen.  Towards  the  wefr  of  the 
Cromlech,  I  remarked  leveral  conical  pillars,  about  four  feet  high.  On  the  fouth  fide 
there  are  three,  ftanding  in  a  direft  line  from  eaft  to  weft.  The  diftance  from  che  more 
weitern  to  the  middle,  was  two  hundred  and  twelve  paces — from  the  middle  to  that  on 
the  eaft,  one  hundred  and  fix — ^^^uft  one  half  of  the  former;  by  which  it  iTiould  feem, 
that  an  intermediate  pillar,  at  leaft,  had  been  removed.  In  a  parallel  line  to  the  north^ 
are  two  others  remaining  erecl — the  one  from  the  other  diftant  about  fifty-two  paces, 
nearly  one-fourth  uf  tlie  greateft  ipace  on  the  oppofite  line.  The  area  between,  is  ninety- 
three  paces ;  in  the  midway  of  wliich,  at  the  ealtern  extremity,  ftands  the  Cromlech.  And 
I  do  not  fcruple  to  aftert,  that  this  Druid  i.vay,  beginning  on  the  environs  of  the  Crom- 
lech, was  intended  to  infpire  thofe  who  were  approaching  the  monument,  from  Dart- 
moor, with  greater  awe  and  reverence  ;  where,  probably,  on  a  folemn  anniverfary,  the 

Druid  priefts  might  have  met  the  attendant  people,  and  commenced  the  procellion. 

With  refpect  to  columns  ereSled  on  a  circular  plan,  the  number  of  ftones  ereft  are  various. 
The  diftance  of  the  pillars  fi-om  each  other,  is  different  in  different  circles,  but  is  the 
fame,  or  nearly  fo,  in  one  and  the  fame  circle.  The  figure  of  thele  monuments,  is  either 
exaftly  circular,  elliptical,  or  femicircular.  The  columnar  circles  which  have  occuiTed 
to  oblervation  in  this  county,  ai-e  the  following;  which  I  have  diltinguilhed  either  by 
their  fituation,  or  their  connexion  with  other  druidical  monuments — limple  and  detached 
circles  on  downs  or  plains — fimple  circles  on  artificial  mounts — circles  contio-uous  to  each 
other — circles  including  kiftvaens — circles  encloled  by  ampliitheatrical  heaps  or  walls  of 
ftone.  On  feveral  parts  both  of  Dartmoor  and  of  Exmoor,  tliere  are  imall  circles  of  ftone 
erecl ;  fimple  in  their  conllruclion,  and  detached  from  each  other :  They  are  too  trivial 

This  huger  rock  en  fingers  force 

Apparently  will  move, 
Bu:  to  remove  yt  many  ftrengths 
Shall  all  too  feeble  prove. 
Some  years  fince,  thes  ftones  fecretly  in  the  night  were  utidermyned  and  taken  upp :  but  by 
who.iie,  and  for  what  caufe  is  not  vulgarly  knowen,  neither  is  it  difcovered  what  .vas  found  under 
them.     Som  fuppofe  they  made  fearch  for  treafure  conceived  there  to  be  hydden ;  others  agayne 
imagine  to  feeke  out  the  certeintye,  whether  ther  were  any  bones  ther  to  be  feen  as  the  remayn- 
der  of  that  large  corps,  yf  fo  thereby  to  confirmt  the  beliefe  (of  divers  incredulous  perfons)  that 
there  were  fuch  tall  men  in  fore-patred  agges      As  Virgil  in  the  firft  of  his  Georgickes  fays  touch- 
ing the  plowinge  of  Emonian  and  Emathyan  fields. 

Scilicet  tempus  veiiiet  cum  finibus  illis 
Agricola  incui-vo  terram  molitur  aratro 
Grandiaque  effoflis  mirabitur  ofTa  fepulcris. 

The  tyme  will  come  one  day,  when  in  that  bound 
The  paynfuU  liiifband  plowing  of  the  ground 
Shall  wonder  at  tiie  huge  bones  therin  found. "(i) 
la)  Worm.  p.  67. 

(1)  This  extraa  is  taken  from  Wtftcote's  M.S.  in  the  Brilifh  Mufeum.  To  enable  my  readers  to  judge  of  the  great 
difference  between  the  f.vo  M.S.S.  I  fhail  fubjoin  the  paffage  that  correfponds  with  the  above,  from  the°Portledge  M.S. 
'•  Then  this  ryver  nameth  a  Village  Kcnforde  through  which  it  pafleth.  fomewhat  aboue  this  village  as  you  defrcnd  froni 
the  great  Hill  called  Halldowne,  flood  a  long  time  2  ftones  pitched  vp  at  the  ends,  the  neighbours  name  them  GyantJ 
flones,  from  an  antient  tradition  that  aGyant  was  tliere  buried,  who  not  only  for  largeneff  of  body  but  for  valour  &  Itrength 
furpalTcd  (by  far)  all  men  living  in  that  age.  &  how  hee  fell  here  fuddainly  down  dead,  &  the  caafe  of  his  death  :  that 
one  of  the  ftones  was  placed  at  his  jntermeiit  at  his  head  &  the  other  at  his  feet,  whiih  declared  him  to  bee  of  a  large 
fize.  but  the  thing  to  be  wondered  at  was.  That  all.eit  the  placing  of  thefe  2  ftones  ftiowed  where  his  head  &  feet  lay, 
yet  his  true  ftaturc  could  never  be  direffiy  known,  for  meafure  the  diftanc*  betwixt  them  foe  often  as  you  would,  yet 
Ihould  you  neuer  uke  it  twice  alike  equal!,  forae  yearej  fines  thet;  (lonci  were  fecietly  in  a  night  digged  vp  and  ibe 
the  wooder  ceafeij."     Wcilcotc'*  View,  p.  1 17. 

for 


62  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

for  particular  defcription.  In  the  central  part  of  the  Valley  of  Stones,  there  are  feveraJ 
plain  circles,  in  di;uneter  about  forty  feet.  Rii'don  fays,  that  on  Maddoc's  Down,  in 
the  p^irilh  of  Ealldown,  there  "  llaiid  certain  ftones  circularwife,  of  more  than  the  height 
of  a  man."  AndWeltcote  notices  the  curious  Itones  on  Exmoor  and  Maddoc's  Down.(<i) 

There 

{a)  "  Now  you  expeft  &  hope  for  more  pleafing  obje£ls,  &  more  comfort  after  thefe  xTieven,  rockye, 
tyring:,  ftumbling  melancholy  wayes :  but  I  cannot  promife  you  prefently :  I  fee  a  fpacious  courfe 
barren  &  wild  obje<ft,  yeilding  little  comfort  by  his  rough  complexion,  liaue  but  a  little  patience  your 
ftay  (hall  not  bee  long,  1  will  Ihorten  the  way  by  guiding  you  by  a  diredl  lyne  without  ambages,  you 
flir.ll  not  haue  a  bow  of  a  tree  to  Arike  off  your  hatt,  or  drop  in  your  neck.  It  is  Exe-moore  we  are 
come  vnto  :  the  greatell  part  whereof  lyeth  in  Sonierfetlhrre  &  yeildeth  noe  mettle,  as  yet  known, 
onely  good  fummering  for  flieep  &  cattle,  &  that  in  good  qualitye  and  quantity,  and  therefore  wee 
fliould  foon  pafs  it  over,  were  I  not  to  iliew  you  certain  ftones,  fuppofed  as  I  am  informed  to  bee 
there  erefted,  fome  in  tryanglewife,  other  in  circle,  as  Trophes  of  viiflories,  gotten  of  (or  by)  the 
Ro:r.anes,  Saxons  or  Danes,  on  which  are  engraven  certen  Danifli  or  Saxon  charafters.  of  fome 
thought  to  bee  there  fixed  in  memory  of  the  great  flaughter,  at  the  ouerthrow  &  death  of  Hubba  the 
Dane,  who  hauing  with  Hungar  his  Aflbciat  huryed  over  all  the  country  from  Eglifdon  (now  St. 
Edmondfburve)  to  this  Countrye,  was  here  with  many  other  ftain  Anno  879.  And  their  Banner 
(which  was  wrought  by  the  Daughters  of  King  Lothbrook  (in  englifh  Letherbreech)  whereon  they 
repofed  noe  little  confidence  for  good  fucceffe,  hauing  been  foe  often  difplayed  fortunately  in  the 
Danes  partye)  taken:  And  the  place  euer  fmce  called  Hubbleftow ;  but  for  that  place  wee  fhaH 
finde  it  perchance  elfewhere  neer  the  mouth  of  Towridge.  Others  again  fuppofe  them  to  bee  fet  as 
markes  and  guides  to  diredl  Paffengers :  Rut  let  vs  leaue  the  caufe  and  find  thofe  ftones,  which  I 
■could  neuer  as  yet,  neither  can  they,  that  I  haue  purpofely  employed  in  queft  of  them  find  any  fuch, 
either  in  the  North -moore,  between  Horeoke- Rydge  and  Snabhill ;  nor  foutliAard,  from  Exa-bor- 
rough  to  Exridge,  or  in  the  Middle-Moore  weftward,  betweene  the  Long  Chayne  to  Rexable  and 
Sectacomb,  or  in  the  fcuth  from  Dryflade  to  Vermyball,  neither  from  Wefter  Emmott  to  Lydden- 
moore,  &  all  the  other  noted  Hills  &  Combes  therein,  to  name  all  which,  would  bee  I  think  fome- 
what  wearifome  to  you  as  the  Journey  to  myfelfe.  for  I  was  vext  with  a  jelous  care,  to  a  particular 
&  ferioui  inquifition  of  what  occurs  in  reading,  taken  vp  of  the  writers  vpon  credit  of  the  Report- 
ers, for  I  find  onely  neare  Porlock  Commons  a  ftone  not  pitched  but  lying,  which  they  call  Long- 
ftone,  bvit  that  may  breed  another  queftion,  why  it  fhould  be  foe  named  being  not  aboue  4  foote 
in  length  &  Itfs  in  craffitude.  Alfoe  in  the  weft  from  Woodborrough  towards  Rodely-hedd  vpon 
Chollocomb  Commons  is  a  plain  ftone  erefted,  in  heyth  near  6  foote,  and  2  in  thicknefle,  yet  with- 
out any  antique  engraving.  But  fomewhat  nearer  to  our  purpofe  doe  I  find  in  the  parifti  of  Eaft- 
Downe  in  the  fFarm  cf  Northcott  (tlic  feat  fometime  of  a  gentleman  of  that  name  John  Northcott 
who  was  Sheriff  of  this  County  the  29th  yeare  of  Edw.  3d.  and  though  it  bee  out  now  of  the  name, 
we  fhall  finde  one  of  his  pofteritie  &  of  his  name  his  equal  in  the  2d  yeare  of  King  Charles)  in  a 
large  fpacious  field  inclofed,  by  the  name  of  Maddock  or  Maddocks-downe,  4  or  5  miles  from  the 
fforreft;  certain  ftones  erefted  in  this  manner:  firft  there  ftand  two  great  ftones  in  nature  orfaftiioH 
(though  not  curioufly  cutt)  of  Pyramydes,  diftant  the  one  from  tlie  other  147  foote  :  the  greateft  is 
in  height  aboue  the  ground  nine  foote  and  halfe.  every  fquare  bearing  fowr  foote :  The  heighth  of 
the  other  ftone  is  fiue  foote  and  a  halfe,  but  in  fquare  well  nigh  equalls,  the  other  being  fomewhat 
aboue  three  foote.  Tliefc  two  ftones  or  as  may  bee  faid  Pillars,  ftand  in  a  right  lyne,  one  oppofite 
to  the  other,  fixtie  fix  foote  on  the  fide  of  thefe,  are  layd  a  row  or  banck  of  23  great  vnformed 
flonci  alfoe,  but  not  equalling  the  other  two  by  much,  &  reaching  from  one  of  thefe  ftones  to  tlie 
other  in  direfl  lyne  and  making  a  reciprocal  figure  as  hauing  the  fides  equally  proportioned  but 
double  as  long,  or  more  then  fquare  (which  as  I  am  told  is  called  a  Parellelogram)  but  for  your 
better  vnderftanding  I  prefent  them  this  to  your  view. 

DDODDcDDaDODDaaaDDDOQaDD 

c  c  c 


147  foote 


A  the  great  ftone  9  foot  6  inches 

B  the  other  great  ftone  5  foot  6  inches 

C  C  C  the  row  of  23  ftones. 


But 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  6^ 

Tliere  is  a  fmall  columnar  circle,  as  I  have  been  informed,  on  Buckland  Beacon,  in  the 
pai-ilh  of  Buckland  in  the  Moor.  Somewhat  fouth  of  the  Druid  way  or  'via  fucra,  at 
Drewfteignton,  are  two  carious  aVf/^'j-,  contiguous  to  each  other,  on  the  defcent  of  the 
hill.  The  rirll  circle  is  marked  by  a  vallum,  which  on  the  outer  part  declines,  and  is 
about  four  feet  high.  Though  the  greater  part  of  the  ftones  which  were  erefted  on  the 
top  of  the  mound,  are  gone,  and  the  ftones  that  remain  are  deep  lunk  in  the  ground  • 

Bat  on  neither  of  thefe  are  there  any  Charafters  to  be  perceiued  neither  are  they  capable  of  any  fuch 
being  impolTible  (as  I  fuppofe)  or  very  difficult  to  engraue  in  them  ;  that  thefe  flones  fhould  rrow 
fce  here  by  nature  I  cannot  bee  p.rfuaded,  neither  can  I  as  yet  by  any  reading  or  reafon  or  by  any 
mans  eli'e  vnderftsnd  or  by  tradition  gheffe,  why  they  fliould  be  here  erefted,  but  for  fome  viaorie 
there  gotten ;  and  the  monument  of  the  interment  of  fome  famous  or  eminent  perfonns  :  but  to 
conjedure  by  the  name  of  Maddock  or  Mattock  I  cannot  allude  to  any  authentical  hiftcne  or  per- 
fon  J  tc  thinke  vpon  Madockwho  in  the  23d  ycare  of  Ed/  .  ifl  1294,  raifed  an  Uproar  or  Rebellion 
k)  Waks,  from  wtioine  the  King  uon  the  Ifle  of  Anglefey,  and  after  in  the  25th  yeare  of  the  faid 
King  v.-as  taken,  drawn  and  hanged,  his  rebellion  being  in  Wales  and  his  death  in  London,  were 
withouc  any  ccngruitie.  to  fetch  it  as  farr  as  Madock  the  4th  fonne  of  Owen  Guineth  Prince  of 
Wales,  who  feeing  his  3  Brothers  contending  for  the  Gouernment  rigged  cerraine  ftiipps  &  fought 
Adventures  by  fea  and  was  the  firft  (as  is  fuppofed  with  great  likelyhood)  that  difcovered  the  Weft 
Indies,  &  inhabitted  itt,  giuing  Bryttilh  names  to  diuers  things  Anno  1170.  of  whom  Meredith  the 
fonne  of  Rhefi  (als  Ap-hes)  who  liued  fometime  after  him  leaveth  this  remembrance 
Madoc  wyf  mwyeda  wedd  Madoc  I  am  the  fonne  of  Owen  Guinedd 

Ja.vn  genan,  Owen  Guenedd  With  ftature  tall,  &  comely  grace  adorned 

Ni  finnum  dir  fyenaid  oedd  Noe  ftore  of  Landes  at  home  or  welth  mee  pleafe 

Na  da  Mawr  ondy  morodd  My  minde  was  whole  to  ferch  the  Ocean  Seas. 

I  finde  noe  likelyhood  therein,  &  therefore  will  leave  itt  to  the  fcrutiny  of  him  that  is  better  read 
then  my  felfe,  and  foe  may  leave  Ex-moore."  Weftcote's  View  (Portledge  M.S.)  p.  45,46,  47,4?. 
On  this  down  and  its  environs,  are  a  great  number  of  rocks  and  columnar  ftones,  of  various  fizes 
and  in  various  figures.  They  are  thus  noticed  by  a  correfpondent  of  Dean  Milles :  "  On  Maddot^ 
common,  one  ftone  is  of  a  remarkable  fize,  and  one  only.  It  is  of  a  conic  figure,  not  fo  large  at  the 
bafe,  as  near  its  center,  occafioned  by  the  Iheep  rubbing  againft  it.  At  the  center,  it  meafurea 
fifteen  feet  four  inches.  The  height,  about  which  I  could  not  be  fo  txafl^,  I  take  to  be  eleven  feet 
if  not  more.  In  a  line  parallel  to  this  great  ftone,  from  fouth  to  north,  and  at  the  diftance  of  twenty- 
four  paces,  lies  a  trunk  of  ftone,  above  a  foot  from  the  ground,  whofe  diameter  is  two  feet  eight 
inches.  About  tsvelve  paces  diftant  from  this,  in  a  line  from  weft  to  eaft,  is  a  ftone  not  a  foot 
above  the  ground,  and  about  a  foot  in  diameter.  Were  there  another  to  correfpond  to  the  large 
one,  thefe  fciir  would  include  a  fpace  of  ground,  whofe  oppof  te  fides  would  be  equal.  I  counted 
more  than  an  hundred  clufters  of  ftone  in  different  parts.  In  fome  places,  fix,  eight,  or  more  are  to 
be  feen  together,  but  not  remarkable  for  their  height.  At  one  groupe  of  fix,  the  eye  is  particularly 
engaged.  Thefe  ftand  circular-wife,  and  are  the  only  ones  in  which  the  circular  figure  can  be 
difcovered.  At  the  diftance  of  four  paces  from  this  circle,  is  the  trunk  of  a  ftone,  nearly  three  feet 
above  the  furface,  whofe  diameter  meafures  about  three  feet.  The  opinion  of  the  coimtry  is,  that  the 
firft  ftone  1  have  defcribed  being  one  entire  folid  ftone,  was  ereded  by  human  hands.  Concerning 
thefe  ftones,  v.e  have  nvo  traditions.  One  is,  that  there  was  a  battle  fought  between  Biry,  or 
Berry,  and  Maddoc,  two  potent  lords ;  and  that  Maddoc  ereded  thefe  monuments  to  perpetuate  his 
vSdlory.  The  other  tradition  is,  that  two  Lords  had  a  batde  on  this  fpot  of  ground,  and  that,  though 
the  conqueror  is  forgotten,  the  name  of  the  vanquiftied  was  Maddoc,  and  that  the  flain  were  all 
buried  in  a  common  adjoining  to  this,  hence  called  Deadbury  common :  Yet  I  could  perceive  no 
tumuli  there."  Thus  writes  a  Gentleman  from  Bamftaple,  in  1751.  Mr.  Badcock  informs  Sir 
George  Yonge,  that  "  of  the  ftones  tliat  bear  the  name  of  Maddoc,  the  larger  ones  ftill  remain ; 
and  that  the  fmaller  ones  may  be  traced  out,  though  they  are  ahnoft  buried  beneath  the  turf.  They 
are  (fays  he)  undoubtedly,  fepulchral :  And,  I  think,  they  are  commemorative  of  a  diftinguiflied 
perfonage,  who  was  killed  on  the  fpot,  in  fome  great  battle.  On  the  WellTi  coaft,  oppofite  to  that 
part  of  the  country,  where  thefe  ftones  are  eredled,  there  is  a  ftone  called  Maen  Madcck.  It  is  par- 
ticularly mentioned  in  a  paper  written  by  Mr.  Strange,  in  the  Archisologia,  concerning  fome  hitherto 
unnoticed  curiofitles  in  Brechnochfliire.  Perhaps,  on  a  careful  examination,  the  one  mieht  throv<r 
light  on  the  other."  And  a  late  correfpondent,(i)  alfo,  writes :  "  On  the  north-fide  of  "the  pariih 
of  Eafi-D'.iur,  is  an  eftate  which,  though  now  inclofed,  ftill  bears  the  name  of  Maddoc" s-D(nvn. 
On  this  place  ftands  a  remarkably  large  ftone  of  the  fpar  kind — in  the  midft  of  a  plain,  about  twelve 
feet  above  ground,  and  of  a  fize  too  large  ever  to  have  been  fixed  there  by  art.  At  the  diftance 
•f  fome  yards,  are  feveral  xither  ftones,  lying  flat — which  they  call  the  Gyants'  Quoits." 

.  (1)  Whofe  fatisfiasry  ««Bunmii<:»ti9in  tte  author  Uope?,  ere  long,  to  have  an  opportunity  of  ackao'.vkdglng,  in  the 
lugct  \fgtk> 

yet 


64  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEV.ONSHIRE. 

yet  from  thefe  relics  we  can  clearly  trace  out  the  whole  round  of  the  circle.  The  ftones, 
compofing  its  circumference,  were  placed  at  equal  diftances.  The  area  is  quite  clear  : 
And  the  diameter  of  this  circle  is  ninety-three  feet.  Contiguoiis  to  this,  is  another 
circle,  nearly  of  the  lame  fize.  One  vallum,  in  the  point  of  approximation,  lerves  for 
both.  On  Quamell  Down  (between  Qnarnell  Torr  and  Sharper  Torr)  there  are  a  ntfiii- 
ber  of  diiiidical  circles.  One  of  thefe  circles  enclofes  a  kijli'aen,  or  a  ftone  fepulchral 
cheft.  It  originally  confillcd  of  eleven  ftones  erect  j  nine  of  which  are  itanding,  and  two 
are  fallen.  It  is  of  an  elliptical  figure:  And  the  area  of  it  meafures  ten  feet  by  eight. 
In  the  centre  of  it,  is  this  kiilvaen  ;  which  is  a  cavity,  enclofed  b)-  fide-ftones  pitched  on 
end,  measuring  in  the  clear  four  feet  by  three,  and  covered  by  a  capllone.  Thele  fide- 
ftones  are  placed  at  right  angles,  and  have  plane  furfaces :  And  the  covering- ftone  is 
five  feet  lon^r,  four  feet  wide,  and  three  feet  deep. — Within  that  curious  amphitheatre., 
in  the  parifli  of  Manaton,  called  Grimfpomid,  are  no  lefs  than  twenty  circles ;  not  one 
of  which  exceeds  a  land-yard  in  diameter.  They  all  ieem  to  have  been  formed  by  ftones 
erefl :  But  in  each  circle  where  the  pillars  are  fallen  or  have  difappeared,  the  circumfe- 
rence is  diftinftly  marked  by  heaps  of  fmall  ftones.  Some  of  the  pillars  which  lie  on  the 
ground,  plainly  point  out  their  original  ftation,  and  might  eafily  be  replaced.  At  pre- 
fent,  there  are  only  two  perfeft  circles;  one  of  which  con^ifts  of  thirty-five  pillars — the 
other  of  tiventy-feven.  In  both  circles  the  pillr.rs  are  placed  at  equal  diftances.  And 
there  are  fix  circles  (each  about  twelve  feet  m  diameter)  in  contact  with  each  other. 
The  wall  that  enclofes  thefe  twent}-  circles,  is  ninety-fix  land-yards  round.  It  was  built 
with  rough  moorftone,  without  cement.  In  feveral  places  where  it  is  entire,  it  is  about 
fix  feet  in  height,  and  of  the  fame  tliicknefs.  But  it  is,  in  general,  in  ruins,  and  a  mere 
heap  of  ftones.  From  the  eaft  part  of  this  circular  mound,  to  the  weft,  are  twenty-two 
land-yards ;  and  from  the  north  to  the  fouth,  twenty-eight.  There  is  an  entrance  on 
the  e;ift  fide  of  this  amphitheati-e,  and  another  on  the  fouth-weft  fide  of  it :  And  at  each 
entrance,  there  is  an  appearance  of  a  flat  pavement.  The  north  fide  of  this  wall,  which 
is  wafhed  byGrimflake,  is  the  boundary  between  North-Bovey  and  Manatcn. — As  to  the 
ufes  of  tlie  circle,  there  is  no  doubt  but  thefe  monuments,  in  general,  were  of  religious 
inftitution  ;  and  defigned  originally  for  the  rites  of  worfliip.  The  Perlians  grafped  the 
whole  compafs  of  the  heavens  in  the  idea  of  their  Jupiter  :  The  Druids  worlhipped  the 
fame  deity  in  the  manner  of  the  Perfians  :  And  what  could  be  more  exprefi^ive  of  his  un- 
confined  elTence,  than  the  circular  figuie  ?  Where  could  they  perfonn  with  fo  much  pro- 
priet)-,  their  adoration  to  eveiy  region  of  the  heavens,  as  in  the  midft  of  tlie  circle  ?(i?) 
Thouo-h  thefe  circles  are  of  diiferent  fizes,  yet  they  might  all  ha%e  been  places  of  worfr.ip  : 
The  laro^er  circles  might  have  been  defigned  for  general  afiemblies ;  the  fmaller,  for 
private  ufes;  tlie  large,  for  facritices  and  feftal  iolemnities;  the  Imall,  for  particular  in- 
terceiiions  and  predictions. (/>)  And  priefts  and  worthies  were  often  interred  in  the  midll 
of  the  facred  circle.  Bones  have  been  frequently  found  in  the  kiftvaen.  The  circles 
within  the  ftone  enclofure  of  Grimfpound,  are  the  moft  remarkable  in  Devonftiire.  It  is 
probable,  that  this  fpot  was  one  ot  the  principal  temples  of  the  Druids,  (r)  I  have, 
hitherto,  noticed //«/«  pillars  only  :  But  the  Druids  had  alfo  bifcribsd  yAhs^.  Dr.  Borlafe 
is  of  opinion,  that  all  our  infcribed  pillars  are  pofterior  to  the  Britifti  Period  ;  "  becaufe 
the  Druids  were  averfe  from  committii\g  any  thing  to  writing."  But  the  Doftor  is  here 
miflaken  :  And  the  error  originates  in  his  mifapprehenfion  of  the  following  palTage  in 
Csefar:  "  Nonulli  annos  vicenos  in  dii'ciplina  permanent:  neque  fas  elfe  exiftimant  ea 
Uteris  mandare ;  quu?n  in  reliquis  fere  publicis  pri'vaiifque  ratianbus  (e)  (Grans)  Uteris 
utantur.  Csfar  here  plainly  intimates,  that  though  the  Druids  forbade  their  fcholars 
to  commit  what  they  learnt  to  writing,  yet  that  letters  were  ufed  both  on  public  and 
private  occafions.     Caefiu-  remarks,  that  this  prohibition  was,  probably,  for  two  reafons 

quod  neque  in  imlgus  dij'ciplina  efferri  •■velint ;  neque  eos  qui  difcunt,  Uteris  conjifos,  minus 

memoria  fiudere."^    Borlafe's  inference,  therefore,  from  the  pallage,  is  ablurd.    Many  of 

(a)  The  Phenician  Hercules,  or  the  Sun,  was  worfhipped  in  an  open  temple. 

(A)  It  has  appeared,  indeed,  that  circles  were  otien  applied  to  otiier  ufes. 

(f)  Of  an  amphithestrical  mound,  fimilar  to  that  at  Firan  or  St.  Juft,  in  Cornwall  (which  I  have 
defcribed  in  the  fecond  fed^ion)  Grimfpound  is  the  only  fpecimen  in  Devcnfnire.  Tradition  fays, 
that  Grimfpound  was  ufed  to  enfold  cattle,  "  when  the  people  lived  upon  the  hills,  before  the  val- 
lies  were  cleanfed,  and  when  wild  beaits  juferted  the  country." 

(^  C«far,  Lib.  6.  Se^-  XIIJ.  (*)  Crajjii, 

die 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  65 

rtie  pillars,  which  the  Druids  ere(5led,  were,  I  doubt  not,  infcribed  with  their  facred 
charafters.  The  monuments  of  the  Irifh  Druids  are  a  fufficient  evidence  of  this  faft.  In 
Danmonium,  however,  v.  e  have  no  inlcribed  pillars,  which  we  can  with  any  degree 
of  confidence  attribute  to  the  Druids.  The  few  Danmonian  columns  with  infcriptions, 
are  of  a  very  doubtful  nature.  But  there  is  a  probability  that  they  are  very  ancient. 
Several  of  thei'e  monuments,  fuppofed  to  have  been  erecled  in  the  Britifli  Period,  are 
afcribed  to  the  Greeks.  Badcock,  in  his  notes  on  Chappie,  mentions  z.  J\one  near  Holy- 
ivell,  on  the  borders  oi'  Exmcor,  on  which  fome  large  charafters  were  engraved.  "  I  have 
fearched  for  this  ftone,  fays  he,  and  employed  others  in  the  fame  purfuit.  At  laft  I  was 
informed,  to  my  great  mortification,  that  about  ten  or  twelve  years  fince,  it  was  made 
the  foundation  of  a  little  bridge,  on  the  rivulet  where  it  originally  flood.  The  man 
who  erected  this  bridge,  faid,  "  there  were  nearly  twenty  letters  on  it — that  they  had  an 
indenting  between  them,  and  were  not  of  the  common  figure ;  for  many  perfons,  who 
examined  them,  pronounced  them  to  be  Greek/'  A  rough  moorftone  in  the  parilh 
ofColebrook,  is  inicribed  with  unknown  charafters.  Prince  tells  us,  "that  this  co- 
lumn, which  is  called  CopleJIone,  is  about  twelve  feet  high  from  the  furface  of  the  earth, 
and  twenty  inches  broad,  each  Iquare,  and  that  it  is  an  entire  ftone,  roughly  carved  with 
various  flourifhes,  which  fome  have  taken  for  old  Saxon  charafters  :"  And  a  correfpond- 
ent  writes  :  "  There  feems  to  have  been  an  inlcription  on  this  ftone  :  But,  at  prefent, 
the  charafters  are  illegible."  There  is  a  threfhold-ftone  at  Luftleigh  church,  with  an 
infcription  boldly  cut.  And  there  is  an  upright  ftone,  by  a  fmith's  ftiop,  near  the  church- 
yard of  Buckland  Monachorum,  which  is,  alio,  inlcribed.  It  is  a  large  unpolifhed 
granite.  The  inlcription  runs  length^vays.  From  the  top  of  the  ftone  to  the  beginning 
of  the  infcription,  are  two  feet.  From  the  end  of  the  infcription  the  ftone  is  fixed  in  the 
ground,  about  fifteen  inches  broad  where  the  inlcription  is,  and  eleven  deep.(^?)  There 
is  now  lying  in  the  parifti  of  Yalraton,  in  the  church-yard,  a  long  ftone,  which  grows 
gradually  lefs  towards  the  upper  part ;  and  the  bottom  part,  for  near  a  foot,  is  left  in  a 
very  rough  ftate — as  if  it  were  intended  to  be  let  upright  in  the  earth.  This  ftone  mea- 
fures,  in  length,  nine  feet.  It  lies  eaft  and  weft  j  and,  being  fomewhat  funk  in  the  earth 
by  its  weight,  its  thicknefs  does  not  appear ;  but  it  muft  be  from  eight  inches  to  a  foot 
thick.  On  the  fide  that  is  uppennoft,  about  the  middle  of  the  Itone,  and  lengthways, 
are  fome  letters  flrongly  cut,  which  make  the  word  Toreus.  One  of  my  correfpond- 
ents  fays :  "  I  Ihould  guels  the  infcription  on  this  llone  to  be  Greek ;  and  I  take  the  word 
Tortus  to  be  an  epithet  of  Hercules  the  navigator,  from  whom  is  named  Hertland  Point, 
or  Herculis  Promon.  near  Hertland  Abbey.  Not  that  there  ever  was  fuch  a  Hercules  : 
But  ancient  navigators  emigrated  under  the  patronage  or  fanclion  of  that  name,-  as  a 
tutelary  laint."  There  is  certainly  fuch  a  word  as  '^o-^i-.s  in  the  Greek;  but  I  Caimot 
dilcover  its  connexion  with  the  navigator  Hercules :  Nor  does  it  appear  that  the  epithet 
of  Toreus  was  ever  applied  to  Hercules.  Another  gentleman  fancies  that  this  word  has 
fome  connexion  with  Tor'ini — a  people  of  ancient  Scythia.  But  theie  are  mere  conjec- 
tures. I'here  is  no  doubt  but  the  word  Toreus  is  oii  the  ilone :  It  is  fo  boldly  cut,  that 
he  who  runs  may  read  it.  But  I  fliould  refer  this  monument  to  a  later  period ;(;!')  as 
well  as  the  ftones,  perhaps,  at  Luftleigh  and  Buckland-Monachorum.  They  have  the 
fame  kind  of  characters,  and  are  placed  in  fimilar  fituations.  With  regard  to  theExmoor 
and  Culebrook  pillars,  we  have  no  ttk  -r;>Txi  for  conjedure ;  fmce  the  infcription  on  the 
fiift  is  inaccefllble,  and  that  on  the  fecond  illegible. 

Having  concluded  my  account  of  tlie  ruder  and  lefs  fliapely  ftones  of  the  Druids,  I 
proceed  to  a  defcription  of  the  Cromlech,  which  has  fomsthing  in  its  appearance  more 
artificial  than  even  the  columnar  circle  j  though  confifting,  indeed,  of  rough  ftones,  and 
fufticiently  fimple  in  its  conftruction.  According  to  Borlafe,  "  a  Cromlech  is  a  large 
gibbous  ftone,  nearly  in  an  horizontal  pofition,  fupported  by  other  flat  ftones,  fixed 
on  their  edges  and-faftened  in  the  ground.  The  number  of  the  fupporters  is  feldom 
more  than  three.  The  fupporters  commonly  mark  out  an  area  about  fix  feet  long  and 
four  feet  wide,  in  the  form  of  a  ftone-cheit  or  cell.  The  Cromlech  is  either  placed  on 
the  common  level  of  the  ground,  or  mounted  on  a  barrow,  or  xaifed  amidl^  a  circle  of 


(»  Dean  Milles's  M.S.S. 

\h)  The  latter  end  of  the  Rcr.an'BritiJh  Period. 

Vol.  I.  1 


pillars. 


66  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

pillars.     Its  fituatjon  is  generally  on  the  fummit  of  a  hill."(«)     The  Cromlech  woiil  i 
often  ajTuine,  perhaps,  its  proper  form,  b}'  the  laere  removal  of  earth  and  lool'e  iloiies 

from 

(«)  On  Dr.  Borlafe's  definition  of  a  Cromlech,  Chappie  comments  as  follows :  "  A  Cromlech, 
as  the  Doflor  defines  il,(i)  is  "  a  large  flat  ftone,  in  a  horizontal  pofitlon  (or  near  it)  fiipported  by 
other  flzt  ftones  fix'd  on  their  edges,  and  faften'd  in  the  ground,  on  purpoCe  to  bear  the  weight  of 
that  ftone,  which  refls  upon,  and  overlhadows  theni,  and  by  reafon  of  its  exte  ded  furface,  and  its 
elevation  of  fix  or  ei^ht  feet,  or  more,  from  the  ground,  makes  t!ie  princijjal  figure  in  this  kind  of 
monument."  I  have  already  taken  notice  of  the  Doftor's  obfervation  that  the  fituation  generarlJy 
chofen  for  them  is  the  very  fummit  of  a  hil! ;  which  however  true  of  thofe  in  Cc/Hcfd//,  and  perhaps 
judg  d  moft  conveniei«  in  others,  yet  being  not  fo  in  ours,  (bat  on  a  gentle  defcent  fiom  the  Korth) 
could  not  be  always  deemd  abfolutely  neceflary.  The  Do<llor  further  obferves,  that  •'  fometimes 
this  flat  done,  and  its  fupporters,  ftand  upon  the  plain  natural  foil,  and  coirmon  level  of  the  ground" 
(of  which  ours,  at  Soi/flon  in  Dr€ivfieiTvtoK^  is  an  in(>ance)  j  *'  but  at  other  times  it  is  mou-ted  on 
a  barrow,  made  either  of  ftone  or  eaitlu  It  is  fometimes  placed  in  the  middle  of  a  circle  of  liones- 
ereft,  and  when  it  has  a  place  of  that  dignity"  he  thinks  it  "  muft  be  fuppofed  to  be  erc£led  on 
fome  extraordinary' occafion  J "  but  that  when  a  circle  has  a  tali  ftone  in  the  middle,  it  feems  to 
have  been  unlawful  to  remove  that  middle  ftone,  and  therefore  we  find  tliis  mon'jmert  of  which 
we  are  fpeaking  fomeiimes  placed  in  tlie  edge  of  fuch  a  circle."  Of  this,  in  a  note  fubjoind,  t'^e 
Dcftor  gives  an  iftance  in  Bnfca'-.ceti-Cr:,  referring  to  an  Icon  of  it,  and  tlience  dedijcing  this  confe- 
quence,  "  that  the  Cromleh  was  pofterlor  in  date  to  the  circle,  and  the  former  ere^fted  there  ior  the 
(ake  of  the  latter:"  But  we  (hall  hereafter  fug«:eft  fome  reafons  for  fuppofing  them  ccjev^l ;  and 
polTjbly  fuch  as  may  induce  toe  reader  to  believe  their  real  ufcs  were  very  different  from  thofe  the 
IX>£lor  affigns  for  their  ercdlion.  Not  that  I  imagine  ^11  Cromlechs  to  have  had  fuch  circles  of  ftones, 
around  them  or  join'd  with  them,  as  he  there  fpeaks  of  j  for,  as  he  proceeds  to  obferve,  fome  have 
been  found  "  ereded  on  fuch  rocky  fituations,  and  (o  diftant  from  houfes,  (where  no  ftones-ered 
do  (land,  or  appear  to  have  ftood,)  that  we  may  conclude,  tliey  were  often  erected  in  places  where 
there  are  no  fuch  ciicies :"  Of  this  he  gives  inftarces ;  and  perhaps  other  reafons  might  be  given 
for  their  he-ng  fo,  v»ere  this  a  proper  place  to  enter  upon  ti)e  fubjedl. 

The  Dodor  next  proceeds  to  fome  account  of  their  conftvutlion  and  name  5  and  fays,  he  finds 
the  number  of  fupporte^s  in  cdl  the  monuments  of  this  kind  which  he  has  feen  to  be  no  more  tlian 
TuitEE  :  And  yet  in  his  plan  oi  Lavfon  Cromlech  (which  fcems  the  moft  carefully  drawn  of  all  the 
five  he  has  giveo,,  and  Is  the  only  one  that  has  an  arrow  to  indicate  its  pofition  in  refpecfl  to  the  points 
of  the  comp:i(i),  it  is  nie%«'a  to  have  fcur;  A  peculiarity,  of  whicli  he  takes  no  notice  in  his  verbal 
defcription  of  it,  p  xiy  ;  where  he  however  remarks  its  particular  pofition,  and  infoims  us  of  its 
dlmenfions  as  to  length,  breadth,  and  girth ;  as  alfo  of  his  h.aving  caufed  a  pit  to  be  dug  under  its 
quok,  in  fearch  for  a  fuppofed  grave  there.  To  reconcile  him  to  himfelf  in  refjcft  to  its  number 
of  fupporteri,  I  ihouW  have  imagined  ik/ir  which  is  moft  to  the  Mitb  ivcji  (and  which  is  hidden  in 
the  view  of  it  engraved  over  tiie  plan),  did  not  rife  quite  fo  high  as  the  under-furface  of  the  uble- 
ftone,  fo  as  to  give  it  any  fupport ;  and  indeed,  if  it  be,  as  he  there  fays,  "  fo  high  that  a  man  on- 
horfei?ack  can  ftand  under  il,"  tlnis  in  respecl  to  fome  pait  of  it  may  not  be  quite  improbable;  for 
it  may  poiYihly  appear  hereafter,  that  the  height  ot  its  inner  edge  need  not  be  alx>ve  5  feet  4  inches 
or  a  very  trifle  more,  for  tiie  purpofe  ux  which  I  guefs  it  was  defign'd  :  But  then,  what  follows  in 
the  Doflor's  defcription,  fhews,  that  the  outer  edge  at  ieaft  muft  be  at  its  full  height;  for  this  I 
take  to  be  one  of  thofe  two  principal  fuppcr^cs  which  he  refers  us  to,  as  marked  A  and  B  in  his 
plan,  but  thefe  letters  are  omitted  by  the  engraver  in  the  edition  of  1754  which  I  ufe.  Ke  thinks 
thefe  two,  becaufe  they  "  do  not  ftand  at  right  angles  with  tlie  front  line,"  as  he  fuppofes  them  to 
be  In  other  Cromiuts  (which  I  much  doubt,  and  am  ftire  they  do  not  in  a//),  but  in  an  oblique  po- 
fition, muft  therefore  have  been  forced  from  its  oiiginal  one,  and,  as  he  imagines,  by  the  weight/ 
of  the  table-ftone,  or  f:/<;/f,  as  tlie  Coinip  call  it  -.  But  for  fome  reafons,  needlefs  to  be  here  aftign'd, 
I  raiiier  dunk  they  ftiU  retain  their  original  pofition  ;  and  paiticularly  that  tlie  \vefte:n  [.-oint  of  that 
neareft  the  center  of  the  plan,  is  very  accurately  fix'd  to  anfwer  the  piirpofes  for  which  it  was  prin- 
cipally defign'd,  but  for  uhich,  a  fourth  yj//fr/(w  in  ours  at.  Dreuis  Tdgnfcr.  would  have  obftrufled 
its  application  to  another  ufe,  for  which  it  appears  to  have  been  alfo  intended  ;  and  tiiere  is  little 
reafon  to  think  otherwife  of  the  other  fupporters  in  that  of  Lanyoti.'"' 

"  Dr.  Borlafe's  reafons  for  having  (generally  at  Ieaft,  for  I  at  p;-efent  take  that  cf  L.-T,>rv5»7  to  be  an 
exception)  no  more  than  three  fupporters  to  a  Cromlech^  as  being  on  fcveral  accounts  the  moft  con- 
venient; and  for  preferring  unequal  to  equal  ones  in  refpe£t  to  their  heights  and  level;  tho'  juft  in 
themfelves,  in  cafe  the  general  defign  admitted  of  an  indifference  in  the  choice  of  either,  yet  will 
rot  heie  appear  to  have  induced  the  fabricators  eitlier  to  fix  on  that  number  exclufive  of  all  others, 
or  to  have  them  of  unequal  heights.  For  though,  as  he  f  ;ys,  fuch  fuppoiters  were  eafier  to  be 
fcund  than  tl'iofe  of  one  aiul  tiiC  fame  l.eight  i  and  tho'  it  be  indeed  "  much  eafier  to  place  and  fix 

(1)  Anfiq.  of  Cornu'. 

fesurejy 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  (>-j 

from  the  natural  rocks.    The  fupporting  ftones  were  found  in  their  prefent  pofition;  or, 
if  not,  were  moved  into  it,  witli  very  little  exertion  ;  And  the  top  ftone,  fuperimpending 

froni 

fecurely  any  incumbent  weight  on  thnt  fupporters  than  on  four  or  more,"  as  not  requiring  the  nicety 
of  levelling  and  planning:,  which  he  mentions  as  requifite  in  the  latter  cafe;  yet  the  difficulties 
attending  fuch  nicety,  had  it  been  neceflary  for  their  purpofes,  would  not  have  deterr'd  the  fame 
perfons  from  attempting  and  carrying  it  into  execution,  who,  as  we  fhajl  fee,  were  no  lefs  nice  and 
"  €xa(£l  in  fixing  thofe  unequal  heights,  than  in  the  cthtr  dimenfions  of  this  ftrudure ;  the  inequality 
of  thofe  heights  being  not  tiie  refult  of  chance,  nor  wholly  of  choice;  but  found  necelTary  to  the 
due  adjuftment  of  the  whole  fabrick,  and  fitting  it  to  anfwer  its  end  and  defign. 

The  Doiflor  jircceeds  to  take  notice  of  the  ufual  dimenfions  of  Crctr.lechs,  their  firmnefs,  and  their 
permanency.  "  The  fupporters,"  he  fays,  "  mark  out  and  inclofe  an  area,  generally,  fix  feet  long, 
or  fomewhat  more,  and  about  four  feet  wide,"  and  adds,  "  in  the  form  of  a  fl one  chcfi  or  cell :''  But 
perhaps  'tis  very  rarely  that  they  can  be  reduced  to  that  form,  even  by  the  aid  of  fancy ;  and 
that  they  are  not  ahvdyi  fo  formed,  is  undeniably  evident,  there  being  more  than  one  inftance  of 
the  contrary ;  notwithflanding  what  Wcrmitu,  whom  he  quotes,  has  faid  concerning  them,  and  con- 
jedlured  to  have  been  their  original  ufe  and  defign,  viz.  to  receive  the  blood  of  the  viclims  there 
facrificed  ;  in  wliicli  lafl  he  is  certainly  miflaken,  and  Dr.  Borlaje  himfelf  has  afterwards  fhewn 
thit  it  could  not  liave  been  applied  to  that  ufe. — "  On  thefe  fupporters  refts  a  very  large  flat  or  gib- 
bous ftone;"  and  this  ii  deed  is  what  chiefly  diftinguifhes  a  Crcmkcb  from  other  monuments  of 
druidlca!  defign.  "  In  what  manner  they  proceeded  to  ere(fl  thefe  monuments,  whether  by  heaping 
occafional  mounds,  or  hillocks  of  earth  round  the  fupporteis,  in  order  to  get  the  covering  ftone  the 
eafj^r  into  its  place,  or  by  wliat  engines,"  the  Doiftor  thinks  it  in  vain  to  enquire;  but  what  he 
looks  upon  as  moft  furprizing  is,  "  that  this  rude  monument  of  four  or  f-je  ftones"  (fo  heexprefles 
it,  and  confequently  here  admits  of  fome  with  four  fupporters,  the  fifth  being  the  covering  ftone,) 
"  is  fo  artfully  made,  and  the  huge  incumbent  ftone,  fo  geometrically  placed,  that  though  thefe 
monuments  greatly  exceed  the  chriilian  fera  (in  all  probability),  yet  'tis  very  rare  to  find  them  give 
Vvay  to  time,  ftorm,  or  weight;  nay,  we  find  the  covering  ftone  often  gone,  that  is,  taken  down 
for  building,  and  yet  the  fupporters  ftill  keeping  their  proper  ftation."— But  we  cannot  fuppofe 
thofe  thrifty  wife-r.cres,  who  fometimcs  capricioufly  choofe  rather  to  demolifh  a!i  old  ftru(flure  t9 
fupply  materials  for  a  new  one,  than  to  be  at  perhaps  a  lefs  expence  in  procuring  them  elfewhere  ; 
would — after  having  been  at  the  labour  and  charges  of  removing  fo  great  a  weight  as  the  covering 
ftone  of  a  Cnmuch  generally  is, — leave  its  fupporters  behind,  if  not  more  difticult  to  be  got  up  than 
the  roof  to  be  taken  down  :  Wherefore  the  prefervation  of  thefe  from  fuch  dilapidators,  can  only 
be  accounted  for,  by  the  great  depth  to  which  they  were  probably  funk  in  the  earth  to  prevent  fuch 
removal.  For  'tis  obfervable  of  fome  other  ftones  eredled  by  the  ancients  for  unknown  purpofes, 
and  attempted  to  be  taken  up  to  be  applied  by  the  moderns  to  their  own  ufes,  that  they  have  fre- 
quently been  found  funk  fo  deep  under-ground  as  their  heights  vi'ere  rais'd  above-ground  ;  which 
has  fome  times  induced  thefe  undermincrs  to  defift  from  their  enterprife,  and  leave  them  fix'd  in  their 
j^laces.  Of  this  divers  inftances  might  be  given  where  no  prefTure  required  fo  much  firmnefs;  and 
much  more  might  be  expe<f\ed  v.  here  the  ftability  of  an  exceflive  Incumbent  weight  depended  on  the 
ftrength  and  immobility  of  its  fupporters. 

I  would  not  be  underrtood,  by  thefe,  or  any  future  animadverfionson  Dr.  Borli^e'^  account  of 
■tl'.ofe  druidical  monuments,  to  depreciate  his  work;  or  derogate  from  the  veneration  and  refpeft 
<l'je  to  the  memory  of  an  author,  to  whofc  refearches  we  are  indebted  for  many  curious  particulars 
concerning  them,  which  have  contributed  more  to  elucidate  the  fubjeft  than  thofe  of  any  precedinj 
writer.  His  learned  obfervntions  and  happy  conjeitures  on  thefe  and  other  remains  of  remote  anti- 
quity, doubtkfs  deferv'd  the  thanks  of  all  perfons  conveifant  in  fuch  ftudies;  and  common  candor 
will  arquiefce  in  the  apol.iey  he  makes  in  his  preface  for  fuch  imperfedlions  as  might  appear 
in  his  work.  "  Great  perfediion  (as  he  theie  fays)  cannot  be  expefled,  where  the  fubjeft  is  fo 
obfcure,  the  age  f»  remote,  ar.d  the  mateiials  fo  difpers'd,  few,  and  rude;  where  we  n.uft  range 
into  fuch  diftant  countries  for  liiftr,ry  and  examples,  and  into  fo  many  languages  for  quotations." 
— And  a  little  lower; — '•  In  treating  oi  t'ae  fuperftition,  and  Rock-monuments  of  the  Druids,  I  may 
feem  too  conjeflural  to  thofr,  who  will  make  no  allowances  for  the  deficiencies  of  hiftory,  nor 
be  fatisfied  with  any  thing  but  eviJent  trutlo  ;  but  where  there  is  no  certainty  to  be  obtain'd,  pro- 
babilities muft  fuftice,  and  conjectures  are  no  faults,  but  wiien  they  are  either  advanc'd  as  real 

truths,  or  too  copioufly  purfued,  or  peremptorily  infifted  upon  as  decifive In  fubjeiSs  of  fuch 

diftant  ages,  where  hiftory  v.-ill  fo  often  withdraw  her  taper,  conjedlure  may  fometimes  ftrike  a 
new  light,  and  the  truths  of  antiquity  be  more  eflTeiflually  purfued,  than  where  people  will  not 
venture  to  gucfs  at  all.  One  conjeflure  n;ay  move  the  veil,  another  partly  remove  it,  and  a  third, 
happier  ftill,  borrowing  light  and  ftrength  from  what  went  before,  may  wholly  difclofe  what  we 

want  to  know." From  hence  ws  may  conclude,  that  were  he  now  living,  he  would,  on  a 

nearer  view  of  th.fe  truths,  of  vvl,ich  he  N\a5  in  queft  but  had  only  an  obfcure  and  diftant  profpecV, 

Vol.  I.  I  2  be 


69  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

from  the  rocks,  was  bro\ight  down  upon  thofe  fupporters  with  as  little  labor  or  contii- 
vance.  There  are  large  mafies  of  rock  near  Sticklepath,  and,  indeed,  in  feveral  parts  of 
the  county,  which  are  fo  grouped  as  verj-  eafily  to  admit  of  their  being  forined  into  a 
Cromlech,  without  calling  in  the  aid  of  tJie  mechanical  powers. (<^)     With  relpect  to  the 

name 

be  well  pkafed  to  have  them  duly  dirtlngiii/h'd  from  thofe  extmneous  ol-jefts  with  which  he  had 
fuppofed  them  conne£led,  but  to  which  ihey  on  further  examination  prove  to  have  11. tie  or  no 
relation  J — to  have  his  well-founded  judgement  in  other  matters  confirm'd, — and  his  conjectures 

corroborated  by  new  proofs,  or  perhaps  fully  eftablifh'd  as  indifpurable  certainties. With  fuch 

views  he  profeifedly  writ ;  and  accordingly  he  tells  in  p.  216,  he  has  exhibited  elevations  and  plans 
cf  Cromlechs  in  Cornicaliy  that,  as  there  are  fome  peculiarities  in  each,  they  might  not  only  afford 
fome  light  and  confirmation  to  what  he  had  before  advanc'd,  but  might  alio  '*  pofTibly  contribute, 
when  in  the  hands  of  others,  towards  a  much  happier  explanation  of  monuments  of  this  fort,  than 
had  as  yet  appear'd."  Cc,:f>fl-:'s  Dcjcnptlzr.  and  Exegcjh  cf  tic  Dre-ujicigntcn  CrcrJa-b,  p,  33  to  38, 
39  to  46. 

(a)  "  By  what  contrivances  (fays  Mr.  Chappie)  fuch  an  enormous  weight  was  raifed  to  the 
above-mention'd  height,  and,  what  is  more  aftonilhing,  fo  exaftly  fix'd,  and  fo  nicely  accommo- 
dated to  the  purpofes  for  which  it  was  originally  deiign'd,  and  moreover,  with  fuch  firmnefs  as  to 
continue  for  fo  many  ages  in  the  fame  pofition,  (for  had  it  been  but  half  an  inch  out  of  its  proper 

place,  we  fhall  hereafter  find,  the  error  would  be  even  now  difcoverable;) is,  in  Dr.  Borhfe's 

opinion,  in  vain  to  enquire,  and  indeed  can  now  be  only  guelFs'd  at. —  Monfieur  il/^j/.V;,  who,  in  !iis 
Northern  A".t:quitki{i),  plainly  enough  defcribes  the  mor.uments  of  this  fort  (tho'  not  by  the  Britifli 
name  oi Cromlechs)  ftill  to  be  met  with  in  Dcrtrark,  &:c.\  and  who  miftakes  them  to  be  altars  for 
facrifice  ;  exprelTes  his  furprize  at  their  Irupendous  magnitude,  and  the  powers  and  rtrength  required 
to  ere£l  them.  His  previous  account  of  thefe,  and  the  ftone  circles  that  fometimes  fuiround  tliem, 
as  tranflatfd  in  the  Ergl-fh  edition,  may  not  improperly  be  recited  here,  as  it  introduces  Iiis  remarks 
on  their  bulk  and  difficulty  of  ere£ling  them.  "  We  find  (fays  he)  at  this  d.iy  here  and  there  in 
Dermark^  Sivtdei:,  and  Ncr-.vay,  in  the  middle  of  a  plain,  or  upon  fome  little  hill,  altars"  (for  fuch 
Jie  will  have  them  to  be),  "  around  which  they  alfembled  to  offer  facrifices-  ar.d  to  aiTift  at  other 
religious  ceremonic;.  1  he  greateft  part  of  thefe  altars  are  raifed  upon  a  httle  hiii,  either  natural  or 
artificial.  Three  long  pieces  of  rock  fet  upright'^  (not  ftriftly  fo,  I  prefume,  inthtfe  northern  lati- 
tudes; nor  is  their  perpendicularity,  perhaps,  more  iieceflary,  whatever  equality  of  tlieir  heights 
might  be  expected,  in  fuch  parts  oi Gcrr>mr.y  or  Hur.gary  as  are  in  Lat.  45'.;  "  fen-e  for  bafes  to  a 
great  fiat  ftone,  which  forms  the  tabie  of  the  akar.  There  is  commonly  a  pretty  large  cavity  under 
this  altar,  which  might  be  intended  to  receive  the  blood  of  the  viiflims."  So  fays  this  author,  adopt- 
ing the  conje<f\yre  of  TVcrmiu^,  and  drawing  inferences  from  thence  relative  to  the  Danijk  fuper- 
ititions,  as  if  tkat  conjefture  were  to  be  regarded  as  an  undeniable  truth ;  and  as  if  they  could  be 
defign'd  for  no  o:her  ufe  but  that  of  altars,  and  therefore  their  appendages  in  all  refpecls  fubfer- 
vient  to  the  purpofes  of  facrifice  :  An  opinion,  for  good  reafons  rejefted  by  Dr.  BoriaJ:,  as  has  been 
befor*  cbi'erv'd.  And  if  the  author  is  millaken  in  this,  he  is  probably  fo  alfo  in  what  follows  (and 
whlcli  I  take  to  be  only  a  conjecture  grounded  on  the  fandy  foundation  of  the  former),  viz.  that  as 
"  they  never  fail  to  find  ftcnes  for  ftriking  fire  fcatter'd  around  it,"  fo  he  thinks  no  other  fire  but 
fuch  as  was  flruck  cut  with  a  fiint  "  vias  pure  enough  for  fo  holy  a  purpofe." — "  Sometimes  (adds 
he)  tiiefe  ryral  altars  are  conilrufted  in  a  more  magnificent  manner  j  a  double  range  of  enormous 
ftcnes  furround  the  altar  and  the  little  hiU  en  which  it  is  erected.  In  ZealarJ  we  fee  one  of  this 
kind(2)  which  is  formed  of  fiones  of  a  prodigious  magnitude.  Wen  would  even  now  be  afraid  to 
undertake  ftjch  a  work,  notwithfianding  all  the  affiflance  of  the  mechanic  powers  ivhkh  in  thefe 
times  they  -u.cr.:ed.".=- One  may  here  alk,  I-iow  does  this  author  know  they  wanted  fuch  afllllance? 
Bp.  fVihins  indeed  in  his  Mathematical  Magic,  ch.ip.  11.  is  much  of  the  fame  opinion;  but  it  may 
be  queftion  d  whether  the  other  advantages  he  tclJs  us  they  then  had  over  the  moderns,  will  alone 
fatisfaftorily  account  for  their  (lupendous  works.  For,  as  cur  author  proceeds  to  remark,  "  What 
redoubles  the  aficnlfiiment  is,  that  ftones  of  that  fize  are  rarely  to  be  feen  throughout  the  ifland 
(fjz.  of  Zealand),  and  '..hey  mu  t  have  been  brought  from  a  very  great  diftance.  What  labour, 
tJnne,  and  fweat  then,  muft  have  been  beflcwed  upon  thefe  vaft  rude  monuments,  which  are  un- 
happily more  dur.'iMe  than  the  fine  arts  ?"  The  author  then  fuggefts  what  he  takes  to  have  been 
the  inducement  to  fuch  great  works,  taking  It  for  granted  they  muft  have  been  for  religious  pur- 
pofes :  "  Men  in  all  ages(3)  (fays  he)  have  been  perfuaded  that  they  could  not  pay  greater  honour 

(:)  Vol.  1,  p.  trj.  &c.  (2)  P.  126.    For  thi';  he  qootfj  Ol.  Worm.  Monrir..  Danir. 

1^)  It  muil  Sf  r?;mt.nitcr'd,  that  the  .-\uthor  i>  here  fpc iking  of  paft  nges  only,  not  cf  modern  times;  otherwife  he,  cr 
Ji;;  Traufijtor,  faouid  have  ex.-epted  thofe  cf  the  piefcnt  age.  at  leaft  among  Lis,  the  dtfcendenti  of  his  northern  reli- 
f.'or.iA'i  of  when  tbof-  vkho  conceit  themfelves  the  wifeft,  are  withjl  fo  fr.'.gally  difpofcd,  as  to  giudge  ever>'  (hilling 
feeflow'd  on  perfon;  or  places  dedicattd  to  the  fcri-ice,  even  of  that  God,  whom  alor.t  'Jiey  prc'.enii  to  ackno^vledge  as 
^b) — but  t^  0.1)7  on  coodiiioB  that  te  :U:m;  r.c  fi.^ite  of  their  gold.      Chappie, 

Km 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  69 

iiame  of  this  monument,  Dr.  Borlafe  intimates,  that  Cromlech  means  "the  crooked  Ji one -^ 
the  upper  Itone  being  generally  of  a  convex  or  fwelling  furface,  and  refling  in  an  inclined 
plane  or  crooked  polition/'C^)     The  Cromlech  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Druids.     The 

Cromlechs 

to  the  deity,  than  by  making  for  him   (if  I  may  fo  exprefs  It)  a  kind  of  ftrong  bulwarks ;  in  exe- 

curing  prodigies  ci  labour;   in  conftcrating  to  him  immenfe  riches." In  another  part  of  his 

•woik,(i)  M.  A-LlWr,  who,  as  we  have  feen,  fuppofes  (but  perhaps  without  fufticient  grounds  for 
fuch  a  f:ppolition)  tiiat  the  ancients  were  un.icqiiainted  with  thofe  mechanical  engines  by  which 
the  moderns  are  alTided  in  railing  luige  weights,  and  overcoming  the  greateft  refiftance  by  a  very 
fmall  force;— aitcr  fpeaking  of  the  advantages  in  refpeft  to  their  health  and  bodily  force,  which  the 
northern  nations  derived  from  their  hardy  way  of  living,  and  inuring  their  children  thereto,  alledges 

their  rtupendous  works  as  fo  many  Handing  evidences  of  it. "  The  greatefl  proof  (fays  he)  of 

their  prodigious  Itrength,  ariies  from  the  rude  enormous  monuments  of  architedure  which  were 
raifed  by  thefe  northern  people.  We  have  all  heard  of  that  monument  on  Sali/hury  Plain  in  England, 
where  we  fee  a  multitude  of  vaft  flones  fet  tjp  endwife,  and  ferving  as  bafes  to  other  ftones,  many 
of  which  are  in  length  fixteen  feet.  Nor  are  the  monuments  of  this  kind  lefs  aflonifliing  which  we 
meet  with  in  Lehnd,  in  JVcJlpbJia,  and  particularly  in  Enjl  FriexIanJ,  Brunjivkk,  Mecklcnburgb, 
and  many  parts  of  the  north.  The  dark  ignorance  of  Succeeding  ages,  not  being  able  to  comprehend 
how  fuch  ftupendous  edifices  could  be  conflrucf^ed  by  common  mortals,  have  attributed  them  to 
daemons  and  giants."  But  altho'  the  founders  of  thefe  had  not,  in  our  Author's  opinion,  all  the 
afltftance  we  derive  from  the  mechanic  powers,  yet  he  thinks  "  great  things  might  be  accompllfh'd 
by  men  of  fuch  mighty  force  co-operating  together.  The  Jmerkans  unaided  by  the  engines  we 
apply  to  thefe  purpcfes,  have  raifed  up  fuch  vaft  (tones  in  building  their  temples,  as  we  do  not  under- 
take to  remove(2).  One  may  however  conceive,  that  patience  united  with  flrength,  might  by  tak- 
ing time  be  able  to  move  fuch  vaft  bodies  from  one  place  to  another,  and  afterwards  to  fet  them  up- 

an-end,  by   m.am   cf  artificial  banks,  down  the  flope  of  iikich  they  were  made  io  Jlide  j" and  why 

might  not  a  very  ponderous  body  be  as  eafily  drawn  up  the  flope  of  fuch  an  artificial  bank  ?  which 
would  allow  thoft  ancient  arc!iite(^s  the  knowledge  of  at  lealt  ore  of  our  mechanic  powers,  for  as 
fuch,  the  inclined  plane  (tho'  not  one  of  the  fix)  is  not  Improperly  efteem'd  ;  and  this  feems  to  me, 
to  be  moft  probably  the  method  taken  to  raife  the  table-llone  of  our  Cromlech  high  enough  to  be 
properly  fixd  on  its  fuppo;ters.  'J'hefe  being  firft  firmly  fix'd,  and  the  flat  heavy  ftone  to  be  fuf- 
tain'd  by  them,  being,  by  means  of  fuch  bank  or  otherwife,  rais'd  fo  high  as  to  be  fomewhat  eleva- 
ted above  them;  and  there  by  the  help  of  fome  proper  machine  (for  I  cannot  fuppofe,  with  this 
author,  they  were  utterly  deftitute  of  any),  fufpended  direftly  over  them  ;  might  then, — by  the  pre- 
vious fufpcnfion  of  a  plumb-line  to  each  of  its  angles,  and  obferving  where,  or  how  near,  thofe 
plummets  dropt  on  points  before  niarkd  out  on  t!.e  ground  for  that  purpofe,  agreeable  to  the  gene- 
ral plan, — be  eafily  fo  guided  as  to  be  let  down  to  its  proper  pofition,  and  fo  exactly  to  cover  that 
very  fpot  of  ground,  and  that  only,  for  which  it  was  intended.— Thus  it  feems  we  need  not,  with 
our  author,  wholly  afcribe  it  to  the  natural  tho'  united  (\rergfh  of  numbers  of  thofe  hardy  north- 
ern-men ;  nor  can  we  conclufively  infer  Irom  fuch  works  of  theirs,  the  fuperior  fize  and  ftrength 
of  the  firft  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  compared  with  that  of  our  debilitated  moderns;  tho'  he  thinks 
it  without  difpute,  that  it  is  from  fuch  proofs  of  it  "  that  ancient  hiflory  has  generally  painted  them 
as  giants."  There  may  be  indeed  fome  difference  in  thefe  refpeds  between  the  ancients  and  mp- 
derns;  but  how  far  this  author's  attempt  to  account  for  it,  by  the  greater  cold  of  the  atmofphere  in 
Eurrpe  formerly  than  now  ;  the  continual  exercifes  of  our  manly  anceflors  ;  their  avoiding  a  too  early 
commerce  with  females,  their  fimple  diet,  Arc.  may  be  deem'd  fatisfaftory,  it  is  not  our  bufinefs 
here  to  enquire  ;  having  already  cited  from  him,  perhaps  more  than  fufficient,  as  to  their  manage- 
ment of  enormous  weights,  in  the  ereftion  of  permanent  monuments,  whether  of  their  fkill  or  their 
ftrength,  or  both."     Chappie's  Defciipt.  p.  54  to  63. 

{a)  Name  of  the  Cromlech — "  Before  we  proceed  to  any  difquifitions  concerning  its  primary  ufe, 
or  more  particularly  recite  the  opinions  of  others  concerning  it,  it  was  propofed  to  make  fome  enquiiy 
into  the  origin  of  its  moft  ufual  name  j  tho'  this  perhaps  will  not,  like  the  ancient  Bri'^Jk  and  Saxon 
names  of  moft  places,  appear  either  to  exprefs  any  material  circumftance  relative  to  it,  or  afford  any 
light  into  its  original  defign.  For  its  Britijh  name,  Cromleeh, — which  the  Cornifh  fomewhat  vary  in 
its  fpelling  and  pronuntiation,  by  only  accenting  the  latter  fyllable  and  adding  the  afpirate  h  inftead 
of  ch;  but  for  which  the  Jrifa,  perhaps  m.ore  agreeably  to  the  old  Celtic,  have  Cromliach,—fj^iufi(.i 

(0   ^-  337'  *"■•  of  Ihe  fjme  Volume. 

(^;  Ihe  Trandutor  here  quotes  Acofu's  Hifiory  of  the  Indies,  for  an  inftance  of  '<  a  ftonc  in  a  fortrefs  of  the  Inca's  at 
Cuffo,  38  feet  long,  18  feet  broad,  and  6  ieet  thick." — On  which  we  may  here  remark,  that  this  Hone,  enormous  a.-;  it 
i,:,  little,  if  at  all,  exceeds  the  bu'.k  of  fome  ftones  in  the  ytgyplian  Pyramids :  And  yet  Hei.idotus  informs  us  of  a  fmiple 
rncthod,  by  which  they  were  raiftd  to  great  heights,  "  with  machines  conftniaed  of  (hort  timbers;"  a  method  well  ex- 
plained  by  Governor  Pownall  in  tlie  Poftftript  to  his  Dclcription  oi'  a  iepulcbrdl  Monument  at  New  Grange  in  Ireland. 
Ax-biEologia,  vol.  sc  p.  272-^^7;,. 


-o  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

in  thcfe  lingtiages,  as  wdl  as  in  their  j^rrtcric  dialed,  nothing  more  than  a  car-vcd  or  cro^lrd  jictif\ 
^cubtlcfs  from  the  gibbofity  of  the  upper  fuiface  of  its  table  llone,  unltfs  we  would  derive  it,  with 
Mr.  ■■  Kallc'ar.^{\)  from  the  old  Inpj  deity,  Crsm,  by  whom  he  fays  was  meant  yi/;<'>.-r ;  of  which 

more  farther  on. This,  fays  Dr.  Borl.iU'z')   ;but  with  its  C-nr.j'k  orthography;,  is  the  general 

name  by  which  thefe  ftrufturcs  are  comnwnly  knov.n  among  the  learned  ;  but  obferves,  that  "  fro.Ti 
its  obb-te  and  fprcading  fomi  (refembling  a  D[i'  tnj"  it  is  alio,  both  in  fFala  and  Ccmivall,  called  a 
<)Uoit ;  and  "  in  the  Ifle  of  J  a  f-y  (svliere  there  are  many)  they  are  calPd  Pcujuf/eysy"  perhaps  ratlier 

i'e««.'.'-/:-!ivj  and  fo  call'd  as' if  tliey  were  ratfed  hndga,  but  Q^ All  thcfe  appellations  being  only 

expreflive  of  their  general  form,  and  hav ng  no  relation  to  their  ufe,  were  probably  not  adopted 
till  after  the  original  pi)rp<^fe,  foi  which  thole  (Irudlures  w;ll  hereafter  appear  to  have  been  ereded, 
was  forgotten ;  when  they  were  lock  d  u]>on,  eitlier  as  the  ordinary  prodac'tions  of  nature,  tho' 
with  a  fomewhat  romantic  appearance,  or  the  rude  efforts  of  ancient  ait,  for  piirpofes  unknown,  and 
not  eafily  to  be  guefs'J  at.— It  ihould  litre  be  further  noted  conccniing  this  its  modern  £m>j/?>  name, 
that  the  ih  with  which  it  terminates  is  to  be  pronoonc'd  like  the  Greek  x;  not  like  our  cb  in  the 
word  I'uch,  but  as  in  the  words  cbjrjfier,  ct'im.-h;  See.  like  an  afperated  v,  as  if  it  were  \\  ritten 
Crcm.'ekb,  for  which  reafon  Dr.  Borhif:,  with  the  Co-ni/h,  omits  the  -,  and,  to  denote  the  want  of 
It,  circumflexes  the  ?;  and  fo,  having  given  diredlions  how  to  pronounce  it,  everywhere  fpells  it 
Crvmi-.b:  But  with  this  previous  caution  concerning  its  pronunciation,  it  is  here  thought  more  eli- 
riblc  to  retain  the  Briti/h  orthography. Were  we  to  funpofe  Cromlect,  or  Crcm/iach  the  moft  an- 
cient nanie,  and  that,  according  to  the  opinion  of  fome  writers,  it  was  meant  for  a  temple  of  the 
D-u'uh,  or  ufed  for  the  purpofes  of  that  ancient  idolatry  which  might  be  fnppofed  to  be  introduced 
by  the  Pbtei::'tcr.!,  when  they  traded  here  for  tin,  we  might  indulge  ourfelves  in  conjeftures,  in 
fetching  its  etvmology  from  the  Hebrew,  or  its  Pf.asnkian  dialedt :  In  which  cafe,  I  ftiouldhave  ima- 
gined it  might  be  derived  from  Ctir  rablam  !u.b,  the  table  cf  the  trijiod  of  !hunder[i)  ;  or  rather  from 
"Cbir  r'.bber:  trchch,  the  tr:f>cd  cf  the  sburdering  king.  For,  that  Jupiter  was  worfhipped  by  the  Phaiii- 
tians.,  and  by  them,  as  well  as  other  nations,  imagined  to  have  tlie  command  a.id  diredion  of  the 
thunder- bolts,  with  which  they  fuppofed  him  arnvd,  cannot  be  doubted.  We  find  J^if'ter  the  fon  of 
Ne*itvne  taken  notice  of  by  ancier.t  writers  as  a  god  of  the  Sidoniam  ;  (and  if  fo,  doubtlefs  of  their 
ttrfonifts  theTr'W'^-',  iind  iheot!ierPrft'':-f.v«J  conneded  with,  or  defcended  from  them  ;)  diftingullh'd, 
fndeed,  by  the  adjunft  or  furname  oi  MantiKw.,,  becaufe  they  were  wholly  adtJidled  to  navigation  : 
And  even  their  e;od  £tf/,  Bdw-,  or  the  fun,  (who  feems  to  have  been  their  principal  deity,)  was, 
accfvrding  to  Euubius.,  call'd  Jufiter  by  the  Greeks ;  as  was  alfo  Dag-.v  the  god  of  Azctu!.  or  Ajhdod 
bv  the  hufbandmen."(4) — But  whatever  worship  the  Phieniciar.i  gave  t^iis  thunc-erlng  King  of  the 
Cods,  we  are  affured  by  Ctefi:r{^)  that  he  was  adored  by  the  Druids  of  Gju/,  and  of  courfe  by  thofe 
<rf  Britain,  and  the  people  whrt>  in  matters  of  religion  were  under  their  government  and  direction. 
But  tho'  thefe,  like  other  nations,  efteemd  him  (Imper'um  cahjlium  terere)  to  be  the  fupreme  or 
chief  among  the  gods  themfelves,  yet  they  paid  the  greateft  honours  to  Mercwy.  To  him,  fays 
Ctriar.,  they  erefled  many  images ;  eileem'd  him  the  inventor  of  arts,  the  conduclor  of  travellers, 
and  the  principal  protestor  of  merchants  and  mercantile  acquifitions.  Bwtntxt  to  Mercury  (whom 
fhey  feem  to  have  peculiarly  regarded  as  their  tutelar  deity),  they  had  a  more  particular  veneration 
for  Ap<''h,  or  the  Sun,  the  original  objeft  of  idolatry  ;  (perhaps  becaufe  he  was  the  principal  deity 
of  the  Pbteyjicians,  v/ith  whom  they  traded ;)  afcribing  to  him  the  cure  oi  their  diftafes ;  and  even 
preferring  him  to  Man,  who  otherwife,  as  the  god  of  war,  ftood  highet  in  tlseir  erteem  than  either 
Jn^itr-r  or  Ai.'ieri-a.  From  this  their  veneration  lor  Af!!:,  I  had  st  tirft  imagind,  that  the  pofition 
of  the  C'-'-mlech  v.'t  are  here  to  examine,  might  have  fome  refpcd  to  the  fun  rifing ;  the  wcr/hip 
ef  the  riling  lun  having  been  by  fome  of  his  vot-ries  ceem'd  a  mark  of  the  higheft  reverence  to 
him :  And  to  be  fatisfied  of  this,  I  wzs  very  defirous  to  aicertiin  its  beai  ing,  with  refpeft  to  the 
points  of  the  compafs ;  which  after  I  had  carefully  obferv'd  and  determin'd,  was  foon  convinced 
that  its  pofition  nc>  otherwife  refpcflcd  cither  the  riling  or  fitting  fun,  than  as  fubfervient  to  gno- 
monical  or  aftrunomical  purpol'es.  Aiid  being,  from  this  and  other  cbfervations  to  be  mentiond 
hereafter,  well  alfured,  that  the  C-oir.Iect  itfelf  at  lea't,  could  not  have  been  defign'd  as  a  temple 
eithtr  of  the  /fr.,  or  of  Jupiter  ;  or  indeed  of  any  other  of  the  heathen  gods ;  I  prefumed  we  might 
as  well  acquiefce  in  the  Brit-p  derivation  beforemenrioned,  which  fuppofes  its  name  given  it  from 
its  form  and  coinpofitlon,  not  from  its  ufcj  and  that  therefore  little  or  no  regard  could  be  due  to  an 
etymology,  which  fuppofed  it  the  original  name,  and  to  have  been  introduced  by  the  Pha-niciars  or 
^n'Sers  who  fpoke  a  dialedl  of  the  Hehre^M;  and  this  too,  expielTsve  of  a  ufe,  for  which  it  was  now 

maniirft  it  cculd  not  have  been  primarily  intended. It  may  however  be  alledgd,  that  tho'  the 

C-oml-  c  itfelf  were  not  intended  either  a<^  a  temi>le  cr  an  altar,  yet  if  it  were  ereded  near  a  college 
«f  the  Druidt,  or  any  Drulf'i^'.l  C'.urt  of  Judicature,  as  this  at.D;fWj  Tcignron  has  been  (in  p.  7  cf 

Til  Ir.:-.  10  IfiOi  Antiq.   p    3i-  '   Scf  hii  Antiq.  of  Co-nw.  p.  oil,   ?I7,   and  the  Xote  on  the  latter. 

'a'  Chir  iigs:fic:  a  liipoti  or  ti«n<1iron  to  let  a  pot  or  rauldron  d.n.  as  well  as  that  lor    the  Iave»  or  wafhing  bafoa  of 
■  tSe  brrifii-i^g  pritfti  s— And  Ljch  a  fmcoth  tiblc,  \vhether  a  plank  or  dab  of  Done,  (01  any  pwrpofe,  patt-cularly  to  wiiie 
0t  eigr»»-e  on. 

i'^  V.3e  D«nel  i.1  J 'pi^!r.  (:)  Dt  Eello  CaIU^o.  Lib.  6. 

this 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  7? 

tliis  craft)  ixinjeflur'd  to  have  been,  which  would  occafion  at  lead  an  annual  toncourfe  of  people 
near  this  fpoti  it  might  then  be  cuftomary  to  have  altars,  and  to  offer  facrifices,  near  to,  or  in  view 
of  the  CroirJich  :  And  as  the  fun  and  pl.inets  were  objcifli  of  their  idolatrous  worrtiip,  at  lealt  as 
name-fakes  or  rcprefentatives  of  tlieir  gods,  its  aftronomical  ufe  might  induce  tlicm  to  choofe  inch. 
a  place  for  it,  rruher  than  another;  and  then  the  Cromlechs  near  which  fuch  religious  worfhip  was 
wo.u  to  be  pcrfocm'd  (tho'  not  ufed  as  altars  or  temples  for  that  purpofe)  might  take  their  deno- 
mination, amongfl  the  vulgar  at  leaft,  from  the  god  or  gods  there  principally  adored  ;  in  which  cafe, 

the  prefumed  etymology  beforemention'd  may  not  be  wholly  inadmilTible. 'Tis  granted,  this 

might  pofTibly  have  been  the  cafe;  but  even  then  the  etymology  will  require  fome  farther  explana- 
tion, to  render  it  confiftent  with  the  notions  of  others  on  this  fubjefV,  or  to  correft  them  v/here 
inconfiftent  therewith.  On  this  fuppofition  Indeed  (for  it  is  only  here  to  be  regarded  as  fuch),  w-e 
might  partly  admit  of  the  conjcdture  of  Mr.  i  Halloran^i) ;  who,  taking  Crom  to  mean  Jupita.,  z% 
derived  from  Crmm  the  obfolete  Inp  for  thunder,  would  have  Crom-l'ia  to  mean  the  altar  of  Jupiter. 
However,  tho'  we  fhculd  allow  the  prctenfions  of  Jupiter  to  it,  we  can  by  no  means  admit  01'  its 
being  an  altar,  as  he  takes  for  granted  it  was,  and  thiit,  without  producing  any  reafon  for  its  being 
fo;  all  he  ailedges,  tending  only  to  prove,  that  the  ftones,  which  he  calls  altars,  and  fuppofes  the 
Druids  to  have  facrificed  on  them,  had  fome  relation  to  Crcm  ;  who,  he  fays,  was  the  fame  as  Ccan- 
Crdthi,  the  chief  dei:y  of  the  Irijh.  But  as  to  the  figrMfication  of  Crom,  as  he  would  have  Druidifm 
to  be  an  IriJh  inftituticn,  and  ofcourfe  takes  the  vvord  to  be  oi  IriJh  derivation;  and  finding  this 
C,an-Croi:bi  by  the  J-lJk  writers  fometimes  call'd  Crom-Cniadh,  he  from  thence,  and  the  Iii/h-woid 
{or  thunder  abovemention'd,  forms  the  word  Crom-iia;  by  which  name,  he  fays,  the  Lla-fall  or 
ilone  of  deftiny,  on  whicii  their  ancient  monarchs  were  crown'd,  was  alfo  calFd  ;  and  which  he 
interprets,  the  a/.v.r  of  Crcm,  but  v.'hich  feems  only  to  imply  the  fione  of  Crcm,  or  the  Thunder -jl'me^ 
without  indicating  its  ufe;  and  might  as  well  be  taken  for  a  whetftone,  for  the  ufe  of  the  Crum- 
thcar  or  Flamen  in  fharpening  the  edge  of  his  Seccjplta.  Had  it  occurr'd  to  Mr.  o  Hailorar,  that 
Crom  might  be,  as  above  fuppofed,  only  an  abbreviation  of  Chlr  rahkam,  the  Tripod  of  Thunder, 
and  confeqyently  net  Irtfo,  but  Hebrciv  or  Phcenlcian,  he  needed  only  to  have  added  to  it  the 
liip  word  Lla,  w!iich  was  probably  derived  from  Luch,  a  tahle  or  flab  of  ftone,  to  compofe  the 
word  Crom-lw,  which  might  be  rendered,  the  Table  Stone  of  the  Tripod  of  Thunder,  or,  by  me- 
tonymy,, of  the  Thunderer  :  And  this  fuppofitlon,  that  the  word  Cram  is  here  a  compound  of  two 
others,  which  have  no  relation  to  cur-vature  or  ber.dlr.g  dotvn,  would  not  have  needed  his  deriva- 
tion of  t!)e  Celtic  word  Crium  or  Crcm,  which  has  that  fignification,  from  any  fuppofed  cuftom  of 

iotvlng  at  the  name  of  Crorr.,  in  the  worfhip  of  the  Jrljh  Jupiter.{z) Perhaps  alfo,  he  and  Harris^ 

againft  whom  he  alledges  that  th^  fun  was  not  underlined  by  that  name  as  he  had  fuppofed,  but 
was  in  Ireland,  wor(hi^^' A  under  another,  i./«.  that  of  5t-^/, — might  alfo  be  partly  reconciled  by 
examining  into  the  origin  of  tl>e  latter :  on  which  it  would  appear,  that  there  is  not  always  fo  great 
a  difference  between  the  fignifications  of  the  names  given  to  Jupiter  and  the  fun  as  objedls  of 
heathen  worfliip,  as  fome  may  imagine.  For,  we  can  fcarce  doubt  but  that  Beal  came  from  Baal 
or  Ball,  a  lord  or  pcivcrful  ruler ;  which  the  Chaldeans  contradled  to  Bel,  and  the  Phoenicians  to 
Sal :  And  tho'  the  AfJ'yrians  are  faid  to  have  worfhip'd  the/v?/  by  the  name  of  Bel,  the  fun  being 
in  their  language  (o  call'd,  but  was  alfo  probably  meant  to  reprefent  Belus  the  fon  of  Nlmrcd ;  yet, 
that  Jupiter  was  more  generally  worfhip'd  by  that  came  than  the  fun,  is  fufnciently  evident 
from  what  Leiden  and  others  have  colledled,  from  the  facred  fcriptures  and  the  writings  of  the 
antients,  on  that  fubje<Sl.(3)  That  learned  author  doubts  not  but  that  Jupiter  originally  meant 
the  true  God,  and  that  the  name  was  derived,  not  a  jwuando,  as  Cicero,  Aulus  Gellius,  LaSantlur, 
and  others  have  fuppofed,  but  from  the  facred  Tetragrammaton  whence  the  Greeks  had  their 
\xti  ItzM  lEViJ,  Jcva;  and  thence  (as  the  principal  gods  had  the  common  tide  of  Pater  annex'd 
to  their  names,  in  the  folemn  prayers  and  facrifkes  to  them)  Jcn-ls  became  Jcvlfpater,  Jonjfpiter, 

(i)  Introd.  to  the  Antiq.  of  Ireland,  p.  34  ?<  35. 

(2)  On  communicating  this  tQ  ati  inttlligcnt  JewifiiRibbi  (\Ac happen'd  to  call  on  me  whilft  wiiting  it},  and  mention- 
iog  to  him,  inter  alia,  the  human  facrifices  of  the  Druids,  he  imagined  the  word  Cromliach  might  mean  a  place  for  tl.c 
woiDiip  of  Moloch,  and  might  therefore  be  rather  form'd  from  Chorehh  Molock  (from  the  root  Charahh,  to  bend,  bow  or  kiiccj 
down,  and  the  word  Mal.£u  Lccu?,  undcrftood),  a  place  for  the  bending  to,  or  worfhip  of  Moloch  :  A  god  of  the  Ammo- 
nit*!,  8tC.  Who,  'tis  well  known,  was  fuppofed  to  have  require  J  fu^li  horrid  offerings ;  and  to  whom  children  were  facri- 
ficed much  in  the  fame  manner  as  C;£!ar  defcntes  the  facri&ces  of  meri  by  the  Drui«ii  ai  Gaui  to  tncir  )^ous,  vii,  by  pottinj 
them  into  large  hollow  images,  and  letting  fire  to  them :  But  Tertullian  (in  his  Apologetic,  c.  9.)  having  mention'd  the 
I'acniices  of  children  to  Saturn,  adds,  Major  etas  apud  Gallos  Mercurio  profecatur  :  With  the  Cauls  a  giown  man  is  cut  ta 
pieces  as  a  facrifice  to  Mercury.  Cicero  alfo  (in  Orat.  pro  M.  Fonteio)  takes  notice  of  the  cruel  and  barbarous  human 
facriiiccs  of  the  Cauls,  bnt  meniions  not  in  what  manner  they  were  offer'd.  Quis  enim  ignorat  cos  [fcil.  Callosj  ufque  ad 
lianc  diem  retirere  illam  immanem  ac  barb^ram  confuetudiiicm  hominum  immolandorum?  The  Carthaginians  alfooffei'a 
the  like  facrifices  to  Saturn..  See  Stlden  de  Diis  Syris,  Syntagma  1.  c.  6  — Moloch  fignifies  a  king,  (being only  diUinguilh'i 
from  it  by  the  points)  and  has  been  generally  taken  to  mean  the  fun,  as  the  prince  or  chief  of  the  heavenly  luminaries, 
but  fometimes  fot  Jupiter,  See.  If  the  Druids  offer'd  fuch  facrifices  here,  it  was  moft  probably  to  Mercury,  but  it  may  be 
qucflion'd  whether  ihcy  ever  gave  him  the  name  of  Moloch,  and  if  not,  the  hft-ni°ntiorcd  etymology  caa  have  liiui 
probability.     Chappie. 

X^;  V.  Seldea  de  \3\i%  Syri?,  Syntagnm  a.  c.  1, 

and 


^z  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

and  at  length  Jupter.  Hence  in  like  manner,  tlie  Marfpatcr  or  Mjri'bltir  of  Cato,  for  Aljrs ;  and 
fo  of  the  rert.  That  Baa/,  BeJ,  or  Bel,  the'  at  firft  meant  as  one  almighty  ruler,  whofe  perfe<Stions 
the  heathens  attributed  to  their  Jufltc,  yet  thefe  being  afterwards  transferr'd  to  a  n>u!tiplicity  of 
idols  (however  rtifl  regarding  Ju{>'it<rr  as  the  principal  and  all-powerful  God),  the  fame  author  telh 
us,  became  a  colle^ive  name  for  them  all.  But  this  perhaps  mort  propeily  in  its  plural  Baalim :{i) 
And  that  this  fometimes  meant  all  the  k.fl  of  hcaicn,  i.  c.  the  fun,  moon  and  liars,  to  which  Ma- 
najfes  is  faid  to  have  built  altars  in  tlie  courts  of  the  tempk,(2)  his  worlhip  of  Biiai'im  bcirg  juft 
before  mcntion'd,  feems  very  probable ;  but  it  is  fometimes  taken  for  the  heavens  tl-.emfelves,  and 
SeiJen  fupf>ofes  it  Ihould  be  fo  underdood  here.  The  Phtcrkiuni  indeed  appear  to  have  worlhip'd 
the/ur  by  this  name  in  the  fmguhr,  with  the  addition  of  Samcr,  calling  him  Baal  Sc-mtn,  the  /c/V, 
or  rulir  cf  the  hea-ver.i :  So  Si.  Attgujl'inc,  (who  underftoodPr/rii)  interprets  it  Samen,  being  the  fame 
as  X\\iSbama':moi  the  Hebrews.  And  this  is  exprefsly  alTerted  by  Sar.cbzr:':a:bon  (as  tranflatcd  by  Philo 
Bihllui  and  preferv'd  by Ei^fcbivs);  fpeaking  of  ("H>.'ov)  the  fun,  "This  god,  fays  he,  they  efleemcJ 
to  be  the  only  lord  cf  hca-vcn,  calling  him  Btcl-famer,  which  in  the  Plct/i',c':an  language  is  lord  cf 
bea-JCKy  and  to  the  fame  purport  with  the  Greek  Z£t>(3)."  So  alfo  the  jPc/,  Bd,  ot  Be/us  otths 
Tyrians  or  Phoenicians,  as  render'd  into  Greek  by Menandcr  (in  J^fptus)  from  the  Pbaenlclan  annals, 
is  taken  for  Zew  the  well-known  name  of  Juplto- :  For  fpeaking  of  a  golden  column  preferv'd  in 
his  temple  at  Tyre,  he  mentions  it  as  £v  rzls  ra  otli.[^)  BvitHcfychlus  dillinguilhes  them  by  their 
genders,  and  fays,  Belus  meant  the  bia'-jcns,  or  Jupiter;  and  that  the  fun  was  called  Bt'a  (a  femi- 
ninj  name). (5)  And  we  find  in  Hercdlar,  that  the  people  oi  Aqulhia  gave  Ap-Jlo,  or  the  fun,  the 
name  of  ££^^.(6)  In  fliort,  the  name  feems  not  to  have  been  (triflly  confined  to  any  one  of  the 
gods;  for  tho'  the  Aflyru:t;s,  as  above  obfervd,  mean:  the /an  by  their  Bel,  and  tho'  this  name  is 
thought  to  be  firll  introduced  by  them,  yet  even  tkcy  alfo  worlhip  d  Mars,  the  god  of  w„r,  by  the 
name  cf  Bclus.  — —From  alj  this,  we  learn,  that  both  Jupiter  and  the  Sun  (and  not  only  thefe,  but 
other  of  the  heathen  gods,)  have  been  worlhip'd  under  the  name  of  Baal  or  Bcel,  Bd  and  Belus ; 
and  in  like  manner  Bca',  by  which  Mr.  0  Halkyjn  faysfy)  the  old  irjh  adored  the  fun,  might  have 
the  like  coUedtive  fignification,  and  their  Crorn  included  with  the  reft ;  and  tho'  more  properly,  per- 
haps, taken  tor  Jupiter,  to  whom  the  fuperior  power  was  afcribed,  mi^ht  be  fometimes  confounded 
with  them.  Or  p(.rhaps,  both  he  and  the  fun,  confider'd  as  diftincl  deities,  miglit  have  facrifices 
offer'd  them,  as  well  as  Mercury  or  any  of  tlie  reft,  at  or  near  the  fame  Cromlech  ;  I  will  not  fay  upon 
It,  as  an  altar;  for,  were  we  not  otherwjfe  allured  it  was  not  delign'd  for  fuch  a  purpofe,  its  being 
manifeiUy  inconvenient  for  the  facrificing  either  men  or  beafts  upon  it,  would  forbid  us  to  fuppofe  it. 
The  general  height  of  fuch  Cromlechs  (of  whicli  ibme  will  admit  the  talleft  man  to  walk  under  them 
vsithout  rubbing  his  head  againll  the  ceiling,  and  others,  a  man  on  horfeback  to  Iheltcr  himftjf  from 
a  ftiower  under  their  coverture,  of  which  an  inftance  has  been  aheady  mentioned)  would  net  allov/ 
the  prieft  to  orficiate  at  one  of  them  {landing  by  its  fide,  nor  could  any  large  beaft  Le  eafily  lifted 
up  upon  it  wltiiout  fome  machine  for  that  purpofe ;  fo  that  we  muft  rather  fuppofe  men,  if  any  vic- 
tims at  all  were  offered  upon  it,  and  the  whole  bufmefs  perform'd  on  the  top  of  it.  Among  tlie 
wretches  fet  apart  for  this  immolation,  thieves,  robbers,  and  other  ofi'enders  (according to  Cajjr)[2) 
were  deem'd  the  moft  acceptable  to  the  gcds ;  but  in  cafe  rogues  were  wanting,  the  innocem  were 
obliged  to  fupply  their  places :  And  being  the  ofterings  of  the  public,  and  moftly  in  times  of  public 
d.mger,  may  he  fuppos'd  to  have  been  olTcr'd  in  the  molt  public  and  confpicuous  places,  and  on 
fuch  an  elevated  altar  as  a  Cromlech  (if  it  were  fuch)  rather  than  another  ;  That  they  were  mounted 
on  its  table-ftone  like  a  condemn'd  nobleman  in  our  times  on  a  fcafFold;  but  afcending  to  it  by  a 
ladder,  like  common  criminals  to  a  gibbet,  together  with  the  flamen  or  prieft,  who  was  to  do  the 
double  duty  of  confeifor  and  executioner.  But  tho'  the  difficulty  of  getting  upon  it  might  be  thus 
overcome,  yet,  as  Dr.  B:nlafe  obferve5,(9)  it  would  be  much  lefs  eafy  to  kindle  a  fire  there,  fuffi- 
cienc  to  confume  the  vidVim.  This,  with  the  glbbofity  and  flope  of  the  upper  furfaces  of  moft  if 
not  all  Cromleeh:,  and  the  want  of  proper  footing  to  lland  eafily  and  fafely  on  them,  or  room  to 

(1)  See  jercm.  2.   23,  18 — Hofea  i.  13.  and  11.  2.  &.-.  (i)   2  Kings  21.  5.-  2  Chron.  ,73.  3-  5. 

(3)  His  words  aie,  **  TaTO¥  ■■•0to»  fvo/jti^o*  fjiovof  a;afv5   Kv^ioi   Btt/.7oc[*.r,)i  KaX5»rtS,   0  Ist 

'::ioix  ^3i\i^i  xt'^i©-  K^ayS,    Ztls  Itcte    H/J.r.cn.^'      P"''o  apod  Eufcb.  Prip.  Ev3il»g.  Lib,  j.  c.  10.  Cbapplc. 

f-i*    laticbb.  'O"*'*  Apr~r?m  l.'K  i.  («)   See  Danct  on  Belus. 

{(>)  Bc^t»  ^(  KxXuai  T»TOy,  si^aci  rt  vin^fvZs,  ATti>.>.Ml>X  c'tvxi  lyiXovres.  Belem  vocant  indi- 
gent, migtiaq".e  cum  icligione  coluot,  Apollinem  inteipretantes.  Hcrodian,  Lib.  8,  p.  376,  377-  Edit.  Sartorii  In^ol 
a^d.   1693.     Chspple. 

(7  \  Mr.  o  Halloran  (whofe  diffjuiri'ioas  on  this  fub'eS  I  am  fer  from  being  inrlinahle  to  cenfure,  but  would  rather  endea- 
voor  to  tlutiJatc)  will  excufe  the  freedom  here  til  en,  in  [.oiiitai^  out,  what  now  appear  to  be  his  niilUkes,  but  to  fome  of 
which  I  (hoiUd  have  tead.ly  fubfcrilej,  'till  1  had  the  (lrong<.Jl  conviaioii  of  their  being  furh.  Such  i:iillakes  arc  unavoidable, 
Vihere  the  fubjcrl  is  fo  obfcurc ;  and  a^  I  cannot  cxpeftto  keep  whol'.y  free  from  tl.c-ni  (tho'  the  conftruction  of  our  Croro> 
>rh  may  prevent  many  to  which  I  might  be  othcrwifc  liabli.',}  1  Ihoold  be  glad  to  be  fet  right  ic  my  tbat  JD*y  tic  difca 
verM  in  what  is  here  fubroitted  to  public  cenfure.      Chappie. 

{Hj  De  BcUo  Oi!l:co,  JLib.  6,  (j)  Antiq.  Cornw,  p.  213. 

perform 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  7| 

perform  the  requifite  ceremonies,  even  fuppofing  them  quite  plain,  and  alfo  free  from  any  hazard  ©f 
that  difruption  to  which  fome  forts  of  moor-ftone  (of  whish  ours,  and  thofe  in  Corn-well  confift)  are 
liable,  from  the  force  of  an  intenfe  fire(i) ;  and  moreover  the  danger  of  the  officiating  flamen,  in 
fuch  a  cafe,  to  be  roafted  himfelf,  by  the  fame  fire  he  had  prepared  for  the  miferabiC  viftims,  before 
he  could  compleat  the  horrid  and  diabolical  facrifice ; — are  fo  many  irrefragable  proofs  of  the  abfolute 
unfitnefs  of  a  Cromluh  for  any  fuch  \^ie.  But  arguments,  deduced  from  the  unfitnefs  of  Cromhchs 
for  altars,  might  be  fpared,  as  needkfs  for  the  conviftion  of  any  who  refled  on  Juliui  Cafar's  pofi- 
tive  teHimony,  that  thefe  human  faciifices  were  perform'd  in  a  very  different  manner  j  i//x.  that 
the  Druids,  to  whofe  care  the  perfons  devoted  to  this  maftation  were  committed,  put  them  alive 
into  huge  hollow  images,  bound  about  with  ofiers  (or  perhaps  fometimes  with  twifts  of  hay,  as 
Strabo  feems  to  hint),  and  then  by  fetting  fire  to  them,  the  men  within  were  fcorch'd  to  death  by 
the  furrounding  flames.  He  doth  net  add,  that  they  were  cut  into  fteaks,  or  laid  upon  altars  after 
being  thus  buccaneer'd,  as  an  improvement  in  prieftly  cookery  for  a  yet  unfatisfied  deity  ;  nor  is  it 
likely  they  were  fo :  For  Strabo[z)-,  who  defcribing  the  facrifites  in  Gaul,  at  which  the  Druids  were 
always  prefent,  who  derived  their  cuftoms  and  difcipline  from  thofe  in  Britain,  after  mentioning 
their  auguries,  and  their  divers  methods  of  previoufly  preparing  and  fecuring  the  vidtims  to  be  im- 
molated, {•vix.  by  thrufting  darts  through  fome,  faftening  others  to  crofles,  others  to  blocks  of 
wood,  and  inclofing  others  in  fuch  a  colortal  fabrick  as  beforementlon'd  j)  adds,  that  cattle  and  all 

forts  of  hearts,   and  men,   weie  then  all  burnt  together.(3) Before  we  difmifs  this  fubjefl,  it 

may  be  requifite  to  remark,  that  the  etymology  before  given  is  liable  to  be  objefted  to,  as  fup- 
pofing all  Cromhchs  to  be  Tripods,  whereas  fome  have  four  fupporters.  But  this  objection 
(unftrengthened  by  others)  is  of  no  moment.  'Tis  enough  that  the  fupporters  are  generally  but 
tbree ;  and  as  the  word  Cbir  in  itfdf  has  no  affinity  to  the  number  three  more  than  to  any  other,  we 

cannot 

(i)  That  the  Moor-ftone  of  which  our  Drews-TeiRnton  Cromlech  is  compofed,  will  not  refift  the  force  6f  3  fervent  fire, 
1  had,  fince  the  above  wiis  written,  the  unexpcfted  upportunitv  of  an  ocular  and  palpable  demonilration.  For  the  prefent 
tenant  of  Shilfton  having  made  it  a  receptacle  for  ferns  and  furze,  intended  to  be  burnt  and  the  alhcs  to  be  applied  in 
maunring  the  farm,  had  fome  time  before  my  lall  \  ifii  to  it  (16  Feb.  1779),  burnt  the  whole  under  the  table-ftone  of  the 
Cromlech  itft'f ;  and  (as  1  was  inform'd)  kept  the  hot  afhes  there  for  2  or  3  days,  till  they  could  be  conveniently  carried 
off  for  his  purpofes.  In  confequence  of  this,  fo  much  of  the  under  part  of  the  (lone  as  had  been  thus  heated  and  fmoak'di 
*nd  which  was  eafily  diftinguifh'd  by  its  blacknefs,  would  admit  of  my  pulling  off  Urge  fcales  from  it  with  my  &iger< 
only  (of  which  fcales  I  broi:ght  home  one,  near  a  foot  111  length.  6  luches  broad,  and  about  an  inch  thick) :  Whereas  the 
imburnt  parts  of  the  Cromlech  retain'd  their  ufual  firmnefs.  The  efittk  of  the  fire  on  it,  fome  intelligent  people  th«re, 
attributed  to  the  black  Tin-Spar,  with  which  this,  and  the  other  MtK>rlfone  in  that  neighboufhood,  abounds;  and  which, 
they  faid,  had  from  the  force  of  the  fire  been  expamled,  and  fuffer'd  fome  degree  of  fufion.  This  feems  not  improbable, 
but  muft  be  fubmitted  to  the  judgment  of  thole  who  are  more  converfant  in  fuch  matters.  They  however  alTured  me,  that 
fome  kinds  of  Moor-ftone,  which  are  free  from  this  blai:k  fpar,  will  ftand  the  nerceft  fire  unhurt.— The  farmer,  who  meant 
not  any  hurt  to  the  Cromlech  by  burning  his  ferns  there,  has  been  prohibited  by  his  landlord  from  doing  the  like  for  the 
future ;  and  he  being  now  aware  how  liable  it  is  to  be  damaged  by  fuch  fires,  and  no  lefs  inclinable  to  prefcrve  it,  'tit 
hoped  it  is  now  free  from  all  further  danger  from  his  good  hufbandry.      Chappie.  (2)   Lib.  4.  prope  finem. 

(3)  How  happy  '  that  the  introduflion  of  chrillianity  into  this  illand,  freed  us  and  our  children  from  fuch  horrible  rites  I 
and  from  all  danger  of  their  fut-ire  re-eflablifhnient.  lor.  at  prefent,  we  have  no  caufe  to  dread  a  relapfe  into  ancient 
fu^rftition,  but  rather  the  rejeclion  of  real  religion  as  fuch.  We  Hill  indeed  call  ourfelves  chriftians,  yet  many  among  us 
contemn  the  memory  of  thofe  from  whom  we  rereiv'd  chrillianity:  Nay  fome,  who  will  readily  acknowledge  the  benefit* 
derived  to  us  from  it,  and  the  gratitude  due  to  its  divine  author  ;  and  who  are  zealous  in  commemorating  national  delivei- 
ances,  (tho'  perhaps  on  a  wrong  day)  yet,  on  pretenre  of  abuf^s  and  uncertain  chronology,  neglect  or  refufe  to  celebrate 
tven  the  nativity  of  him,  whole  benefits  extended  to  the  world  at  large,  and  who  came  to  deftroy  (among  others)  thofe 
works  of  the  devil  above  defrribcd:  Who  hy  the  facrifice  of  himfelf,  lupcrfeded  and  rendeied  all  other  bloody  facrifice • 
fuperfluouj  ;  his  mod  perfeft  law  of  true  libertv  (undepraved  by  liccntioufncfs,)  requiring  none  but  that  pare  Miiicha,  or 
unbloody  facrifice  which  was  offer'd  by  the  primiti'  e  patiiari  hs  j  with  an  euchariftic  commemoration  of  his  dying  love  ;  a 
fledfaft  belief  of  his  divine  miOioii,  and  the  truths  he  revealed  ;  a  renunciation  of  vice  ;  and  our  beft  endeavours  (with  the 
affilting  grace  of  the  holy  fpiritj  to  perform  the  conditions  on  which  he  purchas'd  our  pardon.  A  difpenfation,  that  regulate* 
Our  feJfiOi  paflions.  improves  our  morals,  and  extends  our  focial  connections,  by  making  the  love  of  ourfelves  the  meafure 
of  our  duty  to  others  ;  and  intitling  even  our  enemies  to  our  forgivenefs,  out  prayers,  our  charity,  and  our  pity  :  Binding 
us  by  a  baptifmal  covenant,  not  to  any  Uavifh  fubjetlion  to  infupportable  burdens,  but  to  fuch  a  reafonable  fervice,  as  con- 
duces to  augment  our  happinefs  here,  and  to  infure  it  hereafter:  Inviting  us  by  his  own  example,  to  a  chearful  ol^edience, 
»  firm  tnift,  a  reverential  refpect  mix'd  w  ith  filial  love,  and  a  ready  refignation  to  the  dis  ine  will :  In  fhoit,  engaging  us 
in,  and  inciting  us  to,  a  religious  obfcrvatvon  of  tl  e  duties  compiized  in  the  angelic  hymn  on  bis  incarnation  ;  viz.  to  give 
glory  and  divine  honour  to  the  moil  high  GOD,  to  whom  alone  it  is  due ;  to  cultivate  and  promote  private  friendfiiip  and 
public  peace ;  and,  to  the  heft  of  our  power,  to  enlarge  our  affeflions  and  extend  our  liberality's  by  a  boundlefs  benefi- 
cence, and  imiverfal  benevolence.— —Such  are  the  out-lincs  of  the  chriflian  fchemc  ;  and  fuch  the  eafy  yoke  and  light 
burden  which  our  Lord  has  impofcd  upon  us,  in  lieu  of  the  diabolical  rites  and  abominable  fupeillitions  of  our  pagan 
anceftors.  And  as  this  occafional  retrofpefl  to  their  b.irbarous  butcheries,  and  their  (hocking  immolatioits,  botli  of  men 
and  bcaRs,  by  roalHng  them  alive,  after  the  augurs  had  tortur'J  them  by  the  requilite  (labbings  or  flalhes  to  infpecl  their 
blood  and  tlieir  entrails, — naturally  and  almoft  unavoidably  prompts  us  to  refleftions  like  thefe,  on  fo  happy  a  change  ;  the 
candid  reader  will  therefore  excufe  a  few  biblical  phrafes,  which  fome  may  ridicule  as  the  cant  of  a  lay-man  turn'd 
lefturer.  But  however  deem'd  impertinent  in  a  treatife  of  this  (ort,  as  digrelTive  from  its  main  defign,  and  tho'  the  writer 
hereof  has  no  better  opinion  of  theological  than  medical  empiricifm,  yet  an  exhibition  of  the  contraft  between  paganifm 
and  chrillianity,  whcnev«r  either  of  them  claims  notice,  whether  profelTcdiy  Of  incidentjUy,  ciiinoi  be  wholly  urilcofoa- 
abie      Chappie. 

Vol,  I,  K 


74  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

Cromlechs  of  Danmonium,  however,  from  their  fituation  at  leaft,  may  be  fafely  admitted 
as  druidical.  (a)      Though  in  the  weftern   part  of  Danmonium,   there  occur  feveral 

Cromlechs 

cannot  be  fure  It  was  never  applied  to  denote  any  qoadrupedal  Aand,  as  well  as  the  trlpedal  one  for 
which  we  find  it  ufed.  Mr.  i  HaHorar.  makes  the  like  objedion  to  the  derivation  of  Cromlech  from 
the  crookednefs  of  its  table-ftone  ;  for  we  find,  fays  he,  "  many  of  thefe  covering-ftones  quite  flat, 
which  defh^oys  the  very  principles  of  this  derivation:"  He  does  not  fay  -wkere  fuch  are  to  be  met 
with  : — Indeed  Kh^t  Cot-Houfe  in  Ken:  is  fo  reprefcnted  (how  truly  I  know  not)  in  the  plate  facing 
page  1 16  of  the  2d  volume  of  the  Arcbazlcg'ui;  otherwife  I  Ihould  have  thought  it  very  doubtful 
whether  there  were  any  fuch  in  England,  Ireland,  or  any  where  elfe  but  in  the  latitude  of  45".  If 
fuch  there  really  are  In  other  latitudes,  they  muft  be,  in  one  remarkable  inftance,  of  a  different  con- 
ftrudion  from  ours  at  Drews-Te-gmcn,  and  from  that  of  Lanycn  in  Corr.iva'.l.  But  fuppofing  there 
be  fome  quite  flat,  either  in  Ireland  or  Kent,  yet  if  they  are  generally  otherwife,  in  their  upper  fur- 
face,  this  is  enough  to  juftify  the  derivation. After  all,  it  feems  unlikely  that  Cromlech  was  the 

original  name;  it  being  much  more  probable  that  the  ancJent  Druids  gave  it  fome  name  cxprefljve 
of  its  ufe  and  defign  :  And  tho'  tis  pofTible  this  of  Cromlech  might  alfo  be  afterwards  given  it,  in 
reference  to  the  deity  or  deities  to  whom  public  facrifices  were  offer'd  near  it  (for  it  is  not  denied 
that  fuch  religious  \»orfhip  might  be  there  performed,  for  the  reafons  before  given);  yet  it  feems 
to  me  the  moft  probable  conjedure  of  the  two,  that  it  took  this  fubfequent  name  (for  fuch  I  imagine 
it  to  be)  from  the  form  of  its  covering  ftone,  as  was  at  firft  fuppofed  ;  without  any  regard  to  fuch 
facrifices,  and  poflibly  after  they  were  difcontnued. — It  may  here  be  afk'd, — Why  then  this  tedious 
comment  on  another  etymology,  whicli  muft  be  rejeded  at  lafl,  or  at  beft  reprefented  as  dubious  ? 
The  anfvver  is, — To  prevent  a  more  diffufive  recital  hereafter,  of  the  opinions  of  others  relative  to 
the  ufe  of  fuch  monuments;  which  were  propofcd  to  be  examin'd  into,  but  which  the  foregoing 
references  to  them  have  partly  precluded  :  And  alfo  to  fhew  how  little,  etymologies  are  to  be  depended 
on,  for  the  eftablifliment  of  any  hypothefis  that  wants  other  evidence  to  fupport  it."  Chappie's 
Defcription,  p.  72  to  97. 

[a)  Having  particularly  examin'd  the  weight  of  the  covering  Aone  o{ out  Drru-s-Teignton-Crtmlecb^ 
and  perhaps  been  rather  too  tedious  in  our  enquiries  by  what  llrength  or  contrivances  fuch  ftrudlures 
were  p>robably  rais'd,  it  may  not  be  impertinent  to  our  fubjeft  to  add  a  few  words  concerning  the 
people  to  whofe  induftry  and  art  they  are  to  be  afcribed  (for  v/hatever  purpofe  erected),  and  the 
permanency  and  prefervation  of  fuch  monuments  in  general ;  of  which  many  yet  remain,  not  only 
in  the  weftem  parts  oi  England,  in  Ireland,  and  tht  Britijh  ifles,  but  alfo  (as  obferv'd  by  VT.Birla/t{jj, 
M.  Mallet  above  quoted,  and  others)  in  Denmarh,  Sweden,  N-.r-ujay,  France,  Germany,  and  in  the 
Ifles  of  the  Mediterranean  fea  adjacent  to  the  coafls  of  Spain  and  France ;  as  alfo  in  the  Ifle  of  Jerfey, 
&c.  Hence  Dr.  Borlafe  concludes,  they  were  probably  "  Celtic  monuments,  and  with  that  nume- 
rous people  carried  into  all  their  fettlements:"  Not  peculiar  to  the  Druids,  tho'  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Drul-i:  among  others  ereded  monuments  of  this  kind  :  And  that  ours  were  of  their 
eredion  (for  the  chriftians  never  ereded  any  fuch,  and  the  Danes  never  had  footing  in  places  where 
fome  of  them  are  ft!ll  to  be  met  with),  the  Doctor  feems  to  have  undeniably  proved. — 'J  he  rcugh- 
nefs  and  apparent  deformity  of  their  unpoliflid  fupporters ;  the  gibbofity  and  feeming  difproportion 
of  their  prominent  unomamented  chapiters;  the  general  fimplicity  of  their  condrudlion ;  yet  the 
grandeur,  the  firmnefs  and  ftrength  of  the  fabrick ;  tho'  at  firft  view  it  may  feern  t!ic  prcdudion  of 
a  people  juft  emerged  from  barbarity  and  beginning  to  cultivate  the  arts,  yet  on  a  clofer  infpe<f>ion 
exhibits  the  ftrongefl  evidence,  that  they  could  defign  boldly,  and  execute  efFefluaily.  Compofed 
of  few,  but  thofe  the  moft  folid  and  durable  materials;  fuflain'd  by  flrcng  pillars  deeply  and  im- 
moveably  fix'd  in  their  foundations ;  and  the  Abacus  that  crowns  the  v/hole,  by  iti  magnitude  and 
weight  little  lefs  fecured  from  fubverfion,  cither  by  accident  or  external  force,  than  the  Fulcra  that 
fupport  it; — thefe  ftrucVures,  like  the  pyramids  oi  Mgyft,  have  out-lafted  the  memory  of  their 
founders;  and  ftill  remain  objefts  of  the  admiration  of  common  fpedlators,  fubjedls  of  fpecuLtion 
for  the  curious,  and  filent  witnefies  of  the  hitherto  dlfpuuble  claims  of  hypothetic  antiquarians. (e) 
Chappie's  Defcription,  p.  63  to  66. 

(i)   Amiq.  of  Comw.   p.  212. 

(1)  Nothing  i«  here  mea.it  with  a  view  %D  cenfure  or  ridicule  the  laudable  refearchej  xX  t'.ofe  ivho  have  heretofore  labour'4 
on  thij  fubject;  and  er^leaTOur'd,  tho'  perbapt  aofacceCsfulty,  to  account  for  the  origin  of  fuch  ftructures,  from  the  beft 
lightt  that  ancient  hiliory  could  affard  them,  in  a  matter  which  time  had  invcloped  in  fo  much  obfcurity  ;  as  if  we  wouU 
wholly  reprobate  e%ery  ingenious  hypochclu  that  might  be  framed  to  elucidate  it,  and  were  difpofed  (whiUk  we  avail  our- 
felve;  of  their  labour*;  to  b!a<ne  them  for  ever>-  de-.iition  from  the  rctUtude  of  a  path,  where  there  retnasn'd  fcarce  •ny 
viftble  tract  to  direct  their  foot-ftep*.  Even  thofe  hypothefcs  which  have  only  mere  fiction  or  furmife  for  their  bafij,  may 
tend  to  the  difco".-erv  of  truth;  if  only  by  exciting  fome  critical  opponent  to  deleft  their  errors,  or  point  out  their  abftirdities; 
ti<:>ch  more  fo,  tbofe,  which  are  partly  founded  on  fa<^,  obfcrvatioos  and  experiment',  but  not  on  a  fufficien:  number  of  them 
to  afcertain  evety-thing  they  are  produced  to  prove,  as  ij  the  cafe  with  fome  alluded  to  here.  The  great  Roger  Ba^on  (that 
blazing  uiatex.  which,  in  a  very  dark  age,  affrighted  the  igiwrant,  and  fill'd  them  with  the  dread  of  his  mjgic  ar.d  inchant- 
i«eni,)  WM  certainly  i.i  the  right,  whea  he  afiiim'd,  ihai  (be  moon'*  vicinity  t«  the  earth  gave  hci  a  g.-cater  influence  en 

tl«t 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  75 

Cromlechs  (for  a  dercriprion  oi  which  I  refer  my  readers  to  the  Antiquities  of  Coniwall) 
v-et,  on  this  lide  of  theTamai",  in  a  far  more  exteiifive  traft  of  couiitn,",  we  have  only 
to  exhibit  one  folitiuv  Cromlech.  It  is  true,  there  are  otl\er  places  in  Devonlhire  that 
have  laid  claim  to  tliis  diltinction  :  But  the  claim  has  been  allowed  only  by  thofe  who, 
haviiijj  an  indillinct  idea  of  druidical  monuments,  coiKeive  Cromlech  to  be  a  general 
name  for  them  all.  On  a  down,  in  the  pariih  of  Siiaugh,  commonly  called  Shaugh- 
moor,  there  is,  doubtlefs,  fome  reiemblance  of  a  Cromlech.  Many  reprefented  it  as 
really  a  Cromlech  :  Others  tliought  it  nothing  more  than  tlie  rude  natural  rock.  Curi- 
ofin.-',  however,  lately  induced  a  gentlemaii  to  go  to  Shaugh-raoor,  purpofely  to  look  at 
this  rock:  And  he  returned,  "  pertetSt;!}'  comnnced  that  it  was  a  Cromlech;  and  of 
the  moll  durable  kind,  the  top-ftone  be'uig  fupported  on  natural  rocks.  The  covering- 
ftone  was  about  fifteen  teet  long,  and  nvelve  feet  broad."  And  this  monument,  it  feems, 
•was  "  on  tkc  jUt  of  the  tili.'^  This  account  requires  little  or  no  comment.  The  gentle- 
man who  pronounces  theie  rocks  to  be  a  Cronilech,  difcovers  notliing  that  has  the  leaft 
appearance  of  art,  excepting  in  the  polition  of  tlie  top-ilone.  But  the  polition  of  this 
ftone,  is  fiu-ely  accidental.  It  might  eafiiy  have  fallen  from  the  hill  above,  on  the  rocks 
that  fupport  it.  And.  as  to  the  htuation  of  tiiis  im.aginar>-  Cromlech,  ttejide  of  a  bill  is 
not  the  ufual  place  for  electing  Inch  a  moniunent.(^)  The  only  Cromlech  in  this  county 
(which  is  indiiputaolv  fuch)  is  lituated  in  {h)Dr£-Jijic2gmo}j  (the  to-ivn  of  the  Druids  upon 

the 

{e)  In  the  neighbourhood  of  thefe  rocks,  however,  tliere  are  feveral^druidical  circles. 

{h)  "  D'rziTfieJgKtir.  has  been  by  Rl^cv,  Jftjcx^  Prhrct,  and  others,  imagined  to  derive  the  prefix 
to  its  nau'ie,  by  which  it  is  difwnguiihcd  from  other  Tclr.gt^r.i  or  towns  on  or  near  the  river  Teigr^ 
fpotti  Drcgc  lie  'T(':gzy  who  floiiriflied  in  the  reigns  of  H^r.^y  II,  and  RL-tjrJ  I,  and  from  whom  the 
Dr.~u.';,  a  noted  family  in  this  county,  have  been  fuppofed  to  be  defcended." 

*'  But  as  we  nnd  it  call  d  Tr.gr-Dru  or  Drucs-Tr.gr.ur.  in  feme  ancient  records,  it  feems  to  me 
mort  probable  it  w%-»s  thus  dirtlnguiihed,  as  having  been,  before  the  Rcv.jir.  conquert,  the  refidence 
-of  a  principal  Drmd :  For,  that  fome  conliderible  one  eoveni'd  here,  and  had  great  numbers  under 
his  command,  may  fairly  be  inferrd  from  the  ftupendous  monument  of  tlieir  labour  and  Ikill,  of 
which  we  are  here  to  give  an  account ;  and  which  having  for  ages  retired  the  ravages  of  devouring 
time,  ftiii  remains  a  iLmding  teiVuTiony  of  the  induilr)-  and  confummate  ingenuity  of  thofe  who 
ert^bed  it.  From  a  tradition  of  fuch  rendence  of  a  chrxi  Dru-J,  or  perhaps  fome  college  or  commu- 
nity of  tiiSm  here,  the  BtItcks  of  thofe  times  might  denominate  it  Dci-wyJJcn  Caer-Tcgn  or  cu  Caer  ar 
TtgK,  the  town  of  the  DiLidi  on  the  T<ig>:.  That  its  prefent  name  was  form'd  from  Dru-Js  Tdgnton^ 
with  the  omilfion  of  the  fecond  J,  has  been  the  opinion  of  moft  perfons  who  have  feen  its  CrovJect^ 
an<1  judged  It  to  be  a  dniidical  rtrudture,  t!:o"  uncertain  for  what  purpofes  it  was  ereded.  —Hence 
alfo  Dre^zii'liN,  the  name  of  a  f.irm  there,  had  probably  its  origin ;  having  been  perhaps  once  the  feat 
of  Icnie  Dra'j  or  Drulli.  And  the  Lke  may  be  obfervd  of  another  Dr^-ti/?;;?,  fituated  in  the  adjoin- 
ing p.-.r;:h  of  C£uj/".>n/,  but  on  the  other  fide  of  the  'Tclgr..  If  it  be  objeded  againrt  our  fuppofed 
Br'u.h  uv.nc  of  D'tiv's  TfigKU'^.,  that  tl)«  word  Cacr  or  Cd.V  was  by  the  Br:t:ns  applied  only  to  fcr- 
fj^/*/ plants,  and  old  camps  and  intrenchments ;  for  which  reafon  the  Sixers  generally  turned  it  into 
Ccalffr,  and  » hence  our  prefent  terminations  of  Ctjicr  and  Cbtf.er  in  the  names  of  many  fuch  places, 
but  being  not  fo  here,  it  may  well  be  deemd  doubtful  whether  the  Bntom  prefixed  their  Cur  to  this 
name  any  more  than  the  Sj.v.  .li  added  to  it  tbeir  fuffix  of  Cbcji:y :  It  is  acknowledged  that  the  Sarsas 
mo;I  ccmmonlj  tum'd  tlie  B^.tf>  Cakr  into  Ccjler  or  Cbcjier.,  but  this  not  witliout  fome  exceptions, 
and  in  the  .IrmrU  dirdevl  it  is  ufed  for  any  common  town  or  village.    But  fuppoilng  it  rertrlcled  to 

fortifications 

Uic  tiu«.  xci.  aytTMtA  mere  Qrongly  on  die  occAn,  thin  the  fan  ot  Aars,  tho  marh  exceeding  her  !n  magnitude,  hct  withil 
u  a  much  futbet  JiSince  ;  .\cd  that  her  aAion  on  the  fea  was  the  greateft,  when  her  rays  moft  nearly  approach'd  to  right 
argl^  with  It?  furf.ue.  See  faii  Opus  inajt«,  DiftiriC*.  4,  cap.  j.  p.  8  j  and  86  of  Jebb's  Edit.  1733.  For  which  reafon  he 
(h'eKbcrc  fas  I  mnember,  tho"  I  cannot  now  turn  to  the  place)  modeftly  queries,  whether  there  might  not  be  fomcthing  in 
th^*E»tU(C  of  light,  which,  acconiing  as  the  rays  fall  more  or  lets  obliquely  on  the  ocean,  occafions  the  varieties  obfcr\  'd 
in  its  iiux  and  leQux?  But  he  was  as  certainly  wrong,  in  the  hypotheiiiby  which  he  attempted  to  account  for  them  ;  viz. 
the  power  of  the  lunar  rays  to  extr.'ta  and  confome  its  vapors ;  as  if  they  had  the  like  force  with  the  folar,  or  the  heat  of 
■  fire  on  the  bn>ih  in  a  pot  Jwiih  which  be  compares  it),  to  caufe  the  like  ebullition  and  e\-aporation  !  It  was  rcfer\''d  for 
a  ICewton,  to  ckar  up  thofe  then  myftcrioas  phenomena  ;  to  detect  the  mitUkes  of  his  great  predeceffor  ;  and  to  confirm 
what  lie  had.  with  fewer  helps  but  ao  lefs  fagacity,  obferv'd  and  rightly  aiTcrted  ;  hut  this  now  more  ftroiiiily  fortified,  by 
Bioic  cogetit  and  conclutivc  arguments,  and  on  more  certain  and  indifpuuble  principles.  Such  a  detection  of  the  fallacy  of 
Bacon's  theory,  is  no  reflcttiou  on,  nor  anv-wav  tends  to  depreciate  his  judgment  and  penetration  :  We  rather  admire,  that 
hi$  lyacean  eye  could  fee  fo  far  into  the  Militene,  without  farther  improvements  on  thofe  fpectaclcs,  of  which  he  was  moft 
proiuhly  the  Jiri^  in\entor.— In  {hort,  hv-pcthefcs  founded  partly  on  obfervaiion  and  partly  on  conieeture,  only  become 
ridiculoas  and  contemptible,  tvben  magifteriallv  propofed  as  indubitable  truths  ;  and  when,  tho"  they  ha\-e  only  the  feeble 
fupport  of  I'allactous  couchifions  from  infufiicient  evidence,  the  proponent  claims  an  CjkClii£vc  right  to  titeir  adm'ffiop,  ia 
prtfcrence  to  all  others,  u  if  they  wei«  infaUibU  cctuicties.     Chappie. 

Vol,  J.  K  2 


76  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

the  Teign)  on  a  farm  called  Shilfton  :  And  the  word  Skiljloi,  in  ancient  deeds  ShUfeJla»f 
Signifies  the  Ihelf-llone  or  lhelving-ftone.(«)     With  relpeft  to  the  original  name  of  this 

Cromlech, 

fortifications  and  Intrenchments,  we  are  AUl  juftlfied  in  its  fuppofed  application  here  :  For  at  Frejion 
farm,  within  this  pari(h,  on  the  fummit  of  a  very  fteep  rocky  hill,  now  diftinguilh'd  by  the  name  of 
PrcJionBerry{\),  clofe  to  that  part  of  the  Te'tgity  where  the  road  over  Firgle-Bndge  leads  from  Drews 
7iigtit7n  to  Mcretonhatnpficad  (to  which  parilhes  the  Teign  is  a  common  boundary),  are  the  remains 
of  a  Roman  encampment }  and  that  it  was  really  fuch,  and  not  a  Saxon  or  Dar.ijh  one,  is  evident  from 

ks  form  j  of  which  a  more  particular  account  is  intended  to  be  given  elfewhere. But  if  our  Dtr. 

'wyddcn  Caer-lelgn  fliould  after  all  be  rejected  as  the  refult  of  an  arbitrary  and  ill-grounded  fuppofi- 
tion,  why  might  it  not  have  been  one  of  the  28  famous  cities  or  towns  of  the  ancient  Britons  t 
Among  thefe  the  venerable  Bede  calls  the  26th  Cair  Droitban  or  Droithoi^{z)  which  feems  at  leaft 
as  likely,  if  not  more  fo,  to  mean  this  place,  as  a  then  noted  refidence  of  the  Druids.,  than  Draiton 
in  Sbrofjhire,  as  fome  have  imagined  it  to  be,  from  the  orthography  of  Herry  of  Huntirgdon,  who 
calls  it  Cair  Dariibou  vel  Drai:on.'"[z)  Chappie's  Defcript-  p.  i  and  2.  12  to  16.  A  correfpondent 
commenting  on  Chappie's  Defcriptlon,  obferves,  "  I  entirely  agree  with  Mr.  Chappie  in  opirion  that 
!t  is  called  Drue  or  Drews,  not  from  Drogo,  or  the  family  of  the  Drcivs,  or  any  fuch  trifling  origin, 
but  from  the  word  Drui,  of  which  I  wiU  fay  more  prefently;  but  I  will  firft  confirm  the  author'* 
opinion,  by  juft  mentioning,  that  it  fo  happens  that  there  is  a  fimilar  flrufture  between  Bath  and 
Brirtol,  of  which  Governor  Pownall  has  given  a  memoir  to  the  Society  of  Antiquarians ;  and  th» 
name  of  the  place  is  not,  indeed,  Druifteigr.ton,  but  it  is  Teignton-Druis,  which  is  the  fame  thing,  and 
both  are  of  the  fame  origin. (3)  I  muft  here  make  a  remark  on  the  name  of  the  river,  Teing,  which 
word,  as  well  as  Teir,  Tin,  Tanra,  fjgnifies  fre :  and  there  feems  fome  analogy  between  this  and 
the  ftrudure  itfelf :  and  I  am  aflured  there  are  ruins  of  fimilar  flru(£tures  in  feveral  places  on  the 
banks  of  this  river,  before  it  reaches  the  fea.  I  have  row  to  remark  on  the  word  Drui,  that  it  come* 
rot  from  Drus,  neither  does  it  mean  the  oak,  or  the  wW  where  the  prieft  retired,  but  is  of  Pcifian 
or  rather  oriental  origin,  and  fignifies  a  J'age,  a  ivife-mar,  a  propbet,  a  priejl,  whofe  office  it  was  to 
preferve  the  rites  of  the  Cutbite  religion,  and  to  obferve  the  motions  of  tbe  hoft  of  bea-ven,  which  they 
worftiipped.  This  word  has  ftill  the  fame  fignification  in  the  ancient  Erfe,  or  Irifh  language;  and 
a  Druid  temple,  tlierefore,  means  a  temple  at  which  the  zvijc-men  preficed  :  In  this,  then,  the  author 
and  I  pretty  nearly  agree. — I  come  next  to  his  endeavours  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  word 
Cromlccb,  about  which  the  author  took  a  great  deal  of  pains,  but  I  think  has  left  the  matter  very 
near  where  he  found  it :  I  will  endeavour  to  clear  it  up.  He  has  got  part  of  the  vay  by  deciding 
that  it  is  derived  from  Cromleacb,  or  Cromhagb,  or  Cromliacb,  all  of  which  mean  the  fame  thing — 
but  I  do  not  hefitate  to  fay  that  it  means  the  fame  thing  as  Stovebergc,  concerning  which  much 
learning  has  been  exerted,  not  to  much  purpofe.  Cromlecb,  then,  is  derived  from  CrctrJtflgb,  which 
is  compofed  of  Crom  a  ftone,  and  leagb  lying  or  leaning,  poifed  or  hanging.  I  faw  one  of  thefe 
ftru£lures  in  Ireland,  with  a  flat  enclined  fione  fupported  by  three  upright  ones,  which  the  Irilh 
called  Crcmlecb,  and  I  was  aflured  that  was  the  deri-vatlon  of  it :  And  fo,  in  like  manner,  is  Srcre- 
henge  derived  from  Stein  a  flone,  and  hcnge  to  hang,  or  poife,  or  lean — Nothing  could  be  more  natu- 
ral than  thefe  names ;  for  ftones  thus  placed  were  the  charafteriflics  of  thefe  ftrudlures." 

[a)  "  What  renders  this  farm  more  remarkable  is  its  Crcmlecb ;  which  is  fituated  in  a  fmall 
field  or  inclofure  belonging  thereto,  the  meafure  whereof  is  not  quite  2  acres  and  half;  which  field, 
tho'  on  the  afcent  of  a  hill,  and  not  above  a  furlong  or  two  below  its  fummit,  is  nearly  plain  and 
level.  Indeed  we  might  rather  have  expected  to  find  it  on  the  fummit  itfelf,  as  Dr.  Bcrlajt  fays 
ftruflures  of  this  fort  are  generally  fo  fituated  ;  from  whence,  and  from  the  exa£tnefs  with  which 
fome  of  them  are  placed,  he  concludes,(4)  "  that  thofe  who  erefled  them  were  very  folicitous  10 
place  'em  as  confpicuoufly  as  poffible."  But  the  above  fituation  of  our  Cromlech  perhap-  was  rather 
ehofcn,  as  being  lefs  expofed  to  the  bleak  northern  winds,  and  yet  fufficiently  commodious  for  the 
ufes  to  which  it  was  appropriated.  For  tho'  its  northerly  profpedt  be  obftrudted  by  the  higher  part 
of  the  hill  call'd  Cturcb-Dcwn,  which  excludes  almoft  every  objeft  within  2  or  5  points  to  the  eaft 
or  weft  from  the  north,  yet  the  view  from  it  every-way  elfe  is  (o  extenfive  as  to  exhibit  for  the  mcft 
part  an  open  and  fair  horizon,  from  the  fun-rifing  to  fun-fetting  in  the  longell  day  ;  and  gives  the 
Bbdfiin  farmer,  tho'  he  cannot  from  hence  fee  his  own  parhh  church  (which  is  hidden  by  another 
little  bill),  a  diftinft  view  of  four  others  -viz,,  thofc  of  Maretotihamfjiead,  Clagfc-d,  Gid/iy,  and 

Tbniiiti^b. 

(j)  DoubUcr>  fo  call'd  trora  the  Saxon  Bvrig,  which,  Cgnifiei:  not  only  Urb?,  but  alfo  Arx.  Propugnaculum,  Caftruoi,  %c. 
And  accordingly  moft  old  caOlcs,  fortific;>tioiu>  aod  encampments  in  Devoiilhirc,  AM  retain  tlieu  Saxon  appclUtiot^  of 
Jerry.     Chappie. 

f:)  See  Smith':.  Bede  (Append.)  p.  6^j  and  658;  and  Hen.  HuntingiJ^  Hifl.  I.ib.  1.  fol.  470  of  Savile's  £d.  of  tifi 
Scriptorcs  pod  Bcdam. 

(S)  The  remains  0/  this  monument  near  Bath,  bear  the  name  of  the  Wedding  among  the  common  people,  from  a  tr<tU 
.(ion,  that  a*  a  bride  wai  going  to  be  married,  Ihe  and  tite  rcA  of  the  compcnv  were  d.^rgti  ixlu  piU^irc  oi  Roxir: 

(4)  A.Tlw).  of  Cornw.  Ch   IX.  p.  iio. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  ^7 

Cromlech,  it  would  be  abfurd  to  conjefture.  It  is,  at  prefent,  known  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, by  the  name  of  tht  Spinfter's-rock.f^a)     This  Cromlech  is  of  moor-llone  :    Ani 

Mr. 

TbraioUigb . The  Cromlech  ftands  within  a  mile  and  a  quarter  nearly  weft  of  the  church  oiDreius 

^trgsKn,  and  6irc£lly  north  from  that  oi  Chagford,  at  the  diftance  of  not  quite  2  miles  from  it - 
which  fituation  is  nearly  in  the  middle  of  the  county  of  Devon,  being  within  2  miles  and  half  of  th« 
center  of  its  circiimfcribing  circle  :  For  this  center,  if  Mr.  Dsm  has  accurately  delinetted  the  fea 
foafts  of  Devon  in  his  map, — which,  whatever  other  fa\flts  it  may  have,  or  be  fuppofed  to  have  (for 
it  has  been  charged  with  fome  uivuilly),  I  think  has  never  been  queftioned, — is  about  a  mile  and 
quarter  to  the  fouth-weft  of  the  cliurch  of  HiiteJJeigb."     Chappie's  Defcription,  p.  2S  to  30. 

(a)  "  What  name  the  Druids  gave  our  Dreivs-Tdgnton  Cromlech  at  its  firft  ereftion,  cannot  now  be 
certainly  known;  and  can  only  be  guefs'd  at,  either  from  its  prefent  name,  or  its  original  ufe.  With 
refpeft  to  the  former,  the  name,  by  which  the  learned  have  diftinguifli'd  it  from  other  Druidkal 
monuments,  fails  us;  for  we  may  infer  from  the  latter,  if  this  can  be  determined  with  more  cer- 
tainty, as  'ti$  prefumed  it  may,  that  Cromlech  could  not,  with  any  propriety,  be  its  original  name. 
Let  us  try  then,  what  liglu  its  modern  -vulgar  name  may  afford  us,  on  a  fuppofition  it  was  derived 

from  fome  appellation  originally  expreffive  of  its  ufe- This  CromUcb  is  vulgarly  known  to  the 

inhabitants  of  Dreiui  Teignion  atid  its  neighbourhood  by  no  other  name  than  that  of  Spinfler's  or 
Spinner's  Rock ;  and  their  common  faying  is,  that  it  was  eredled  by  three  fpinfters  one  morning 
before  their  breakfaft.  Thefe  Spinfiers,  tho'  the  appellation  among  lawyers  is  peculiar  to  maiden 
women,  but  feems  to  be  originally  derived  from  the  common  employment  of  young  girls  in  former 
ages,  the  inhabitants  repreitnt  as  having  been  not  only  fpinfters  in  the  former  fenfe,  but  alfo  fpin- 
ners  by  occupation.  For  according  to  their  account,  they  did  it  after  finiftiing  their  ufual  work,  and 
goirg  home  tuitb  their  pad,  as  the  phrafe  here  is;  that  is,  carrying  home  their  pad  of  yam  to  the 
yarn-jobber,  to  be  paid  for  fpinning  it :  And  on  their  return,  obierving  fuch  heavy  materials  unap- 
plied to  any  ufe,  and  being  ftrong  wenches  (gianteftes  we  may  pre  fume,  fuch  as  GuUi-uer's  Glum- 
dalclitcbf  or  the  blouzes  of  Patagonia  J,  as  an  evidence  of  their  fti  ergth  and  induftry,  and  to  fliame 
the  men,  who  either  from  weaknefs  or  lazinefs  had  defifted  from  t';;e  attempt,  they  jointly  under- 
took this  ta(k,  and  rais'd  the  unwieldy  ftones  to  the  height  and  pofuion  in  which  they  ftil]  remain. 
This  is  the  tale,  which  they  fay  has  been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation ;  and  thence 

the)  fell  you,  this  romantic  ftru^ure  had  its  name. It  is  ufual  with  the  vulgar,  to  afcribe  almoft 

ev<iiy-thitig  that  they  think  beyond  the  reach  of  human  power,  to  the  devil,  or  diabolical  arts  :  In 
the  prefent  cafe,  hov/ever,  they  have  not  thought  it  neceflary  to  call  in  his  devilftiip's  afliftance  - 
but  having  a  notion  that  the  people  o.'  former  ages  were  of  a  gigar^tic  ftature  and  Herculean  ftrength* 
rhey  imagin'd  this  futficient  to  account  for  the  ereftion  of  fuch  ftruftures  as  thefe;  taking  for 
panted  they  could  lift  up,  and  properly  place,  fuch  huge  blocks  of  moor-ftone,  as  the  pigmies  of 
the  prefent  time  are  unable  to  move.  But  granting  their  ftrength  and  their  bulk  were  as  fuppofed 
ftill  'twas  an  odd  undertaking  for  fpinfters !  Had  aTalmudic,  or  a  legendary  romancer  after  the  Saxon 
eonverfion,  been  author  of  the  tale,  he  would  rather  have  conftituted  them  bed-makers  to  Og  the 
king  of  Baj'an,  the  dimennons  of  whofe  iron  bedftead  are  recorded  by  Mofes{i);  it  being  in  length 
nearly  the  fame  a»  our  Crom.ccb,  but  this  in  its  breadth  would  make  room  for  his  queen  alfo  (for 
rlie  caivjpy  would  overihadow  both)  -.(2)  And  having  this  certain  evidence  of  its  dimenfions    and 

the 

;i;   Oeuterony  3.   11. 

(-,  The  Writer  hereof  i«  far  from  intending  any  ridiuleon  the  Tarred  fcriptures:  Uninfatuated  by  the  fafhionable 
«'i  tt.nciftn  of  the  times,  he  would  not  even  iiifiniuite  jny-thing  derogatory  to  any  part  of  the  Mofaic  hiltory  :  A  hiftorv 
was  h  ihofe  v.lio  deny  its  infpirjtiou  mult  allow  to  be  the  moft  ancient,  and  the  beft  authenticatid,  of  any  that  pretend  to 
t!.c  highcft  antiquity.  Kor  would  he  charge  every  extraordinary  incident  there  recorded,  that  might  (hock  the  belief  of  a 
fiolingbioke  or  a  Valtaire,  on  a  luppoled  corruption  of  the  text.  Such,  'tis  acknowledged,  there  certainly  are,  in  fome 
parts  of  thofe  writings,  but  rone  can  be  pretended  in  *hat  here  quoted  ;  it  appearing  from  the  accurate  collations  of  our  very 
iraraedund  indefatigable  couutryman,  the  Rev.  Dr.  K.ennitoti,  that  not  only  all  the  ancient  printed  copies  collated  by  him 
biii  alfo  all  the  oianufcript  ones  to  the  number  of  119,  agree  with  the  prefent  reading  in  the  dimenfions  of  the  bedftead 
iDovemention'd,  fave  onlv  one  MS,  wheTein  the  words  expreffive  of  its  breadth  are  omitted.  Indeed  there  feemi 
!io  icifon  to  doubt  of  the  gigantic  ftature  of  Og,  or  of  the  other  defcendents  of  Anak,  as  there  attefted ;  but  tho' hi* 
btdftead  were  fix  cubits  long,  it  doth  not  follow  ihat  he  himfelf  v.ai  of  tliat  height.  We  may  allow  him  however  full  five 
«uLits,  which  1  take  tc  be  fon.ewhat  lefs  than  the  ftature  of  Ordulph  or  tdulph  the  fonof  Ordgar  Duke  of  Devonlhire  muft 
h..\e  been,  cveii  fuppofing  the  leg  and  thigh  bones  preferv'd,  and  Ihcwn  for  his  in  Tavyftoke  Church,  were  really  his,  and 
taken  out  of  his  enormous  ftpulchcr  at  the  diifolution  of  the  abbf  y  there,  where  Malmftury  tells  us  it  was  to  be  feen  •  he 
being  '•  gvgantei  moli;  &  immanis  roboris :"  But  if  thefe  bones  he  admitted  as  evidences  of  his  ptoportionable  height,  I 
imagine,  (from  what  1  remember  of  theit  fize)  it  hardly  exceeded  8  feet,  or  very  little  more  than  5  cubits.  Such  a  man 
n.ijht  find  looai  to  ftretch  himfelf  between  two  of  the  fupportcrs  of  out  Cromlech  ;  but  perhaps  not  to  that  length  to  which 
t.hc  faioe  Kifloriac  llretchcs  the  legs  of  this  Ordulph,  when,  at  a  hunting  in  Dorfeiftiire,  he  makes  him  ftride  over  a  rivnlet 
thot  was  ten  feet  ■.-.ide  from  bank  to  bank.  He  alfo  reprefem<  him  as  having  ftrength  proportional  to  his  ftatuie;  and  gives  an 
kr.;tance  of  his  e.xcrtion  ol  it  when  coming  to  F.:«ter  with  King  Edward  the  Confeifor  (to  whom  he  was  related',  and 
»;.proachin^  that  fiiy  he  found  the  gate  (hut  agair.it  them;  the  pecple  within  being  then,  it  feems,  rarel'ul  to  preferve  their 
.t.fchl  to  C^T  •h(  ^itei  air^iiiP.  all  Nr*ng;rr^,   it  ieaft   ■:iU  they  gave  a  fatisfaftory  account  of  themfelves:  Or  perhaps,  as  our 

»tith«r 


78  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

the  gigantic  ftature  of  Og,  a  fanciful  narrator,  wlien  geography  and  chronology,  tlie  two  eyes  of 
hiftory,  were  both  ihut,  might  as  cleverly  bring  him  hither,  in  a  voyage  with  fome  Sldcnian  trader, 
on  a  temporary  i-:fit  to  Britain^  and  perhaps  witli  as  much  alfurance  of  a  ready  reception  by  credulous 
and  uninquifitive  people,  as  J^ffcry  of  Monmouth  could  introduce  a  Trojan  Brute  to  fettle  here  :  And 
to  make  the  ftory  plaufible,  his  Bajannk  Majefty  had  only  to  appoint  a  regent  in  Argch  during  his 
abfenc*. — But  leaving  fuch  fancies,  to  make  room  for  others ;  which,  tho'  not  fo  far  fetch'd,  but  of 
Fome-fabrication,  may  poflihly,  for  that  very  reafon,  be  the  hfs  efteem'd  by  fonie,  and  contemptu- 
oully  rejedlcd,  as  little  better  authcnticateithan  the  childifii  and  fabulous  rtory  itfelf  on  which  they 
arc  founded.  Indeed  nothing  to  our  purpofe  can  be  deduced  from  it  as  fimply  told  ;  only  from  its 
texture,  'tis  fufficiently  evident,  that  the  fuppofed  eredion  of  this  Cromlech  by  3  fpinfters  (except  as 
to  their  number,  which  might  be  from  that  of  its  fupporters),  muft  have  had  its  origin  from  its  com- 
mon name  ;  not  the  name  from  tiiem,  as  the  Dreivjieigrtonians  would  perfuade  us.  Yet,  as  the  wildeft 
and  mod  ridiculous  traditioiis,  generally  retain  fome  (hadow  of  their  original,  whether  lounded  on 
fable  or  fadt ;  fo  the  molt  difguifed  and  corrupted  words  and  names  may,  after  all,  preferve  fo  many 
of  tlieir  radical  letters  as  fpelt,  or  fo  much  refemblance  of  their  original  founds  as  fpoken,  as,  with 
the  concurrence  of  other  circumftances,  may  invite  an  etymologifl  to  attempt  an  inveftigation  of 
their  meaning;  tho'  not  always  with  the  dcfired  fuccefs. Permit  me  however,  to  offer  a  conjec- 
ture, after  taking  for  granted  that  the  original  name  of  this  Cromlech  was  expreflive  of  the  ufe  for 
which  it  was  defign'd.  And  as  it  will  hereafter  appear,  that  its  fabrication  was  not  only  for  fcia- 
tlierical  purpofes,  but  alfo  for  fuch  geographical  as  well  as  aftronomical  obfervations  and  ccnclufions 
3i  might  be  generally  deducible  from  thence  j  it  being  certain  that  the  ancients  were  guided  in  fuch 
obfervations  by  the  aequinodial  fliadow  of  a  perpendicular  gnomon  or  ftyle,  and  fitted  their  inflru- 
inents  to  it :  ( i )  Why  then  might  not  the  agronomical  Dru'ids  give  it  fome  Celtic  appellation  fignificant 
of  that  ufe  ;  fuch  as  Lie  lypiennivr  rhongca  (in  the  Britijh  dialed  of  the  Celtic).,  the  Place  of  the  open 
or  holloKv  Ohfcr'vatory?{z)  Or  poflibly  Tjpiciddyn  Ser  rongca^  the  open  Star-gazing  Place. [z)  This 
the  Britons  themfelves,  if  we  may  fuppofe  them  to  have  difcontinued  its  ufe  and  forgotten  the  mean- 
ing of  its  name,  after  the  extirpation  of  the  Druids  by  the  Ro;nar.s.,  might  change  for  other  words  of 
a  frmilar  found,  but  having  regard  only  to  the  mailive  and  ponderous  ftones  that  compofed  it,  fuch 
as5Tt'/>  pynnerog^  the  iceighty  Pile — Sicp  fignifying  a  pile,  a  heap,  a  lump,  a  bunch,  &c.  and  pyr.- 
mcrtg  heavy  ;  from  pynner,  an  old  Britijh  word  for  a  load,  burden,  or  weight.  But  whether  they  had 
thus  corrupted  it  or  not,  at  the  time  of  the  Saxcn  conquefl,  the  Saxons  not  underftanding  the  Britifli 
language,  and  miftaking  their  appellatives  forpropei  names,  as  has  been  elfsAhere  obferv'd  in  refpedl 
to  our  rivers,  might  do  the  like  here ;  and  foftening  the  rough  and  guttural  pronunciation  ot  the 
Britons,  would  naturally  adopt  inflead  of  it  fome  word  or  words,  of  a  fomewhat  fimilar  found,  in 
tfreir  own  language  3  by  which  it  became  eafily  exchanged  into  Spinners  Rocc.  Where  note,  the  word 
Ffce  meant  not  the  fame  with  the  modern  Erglijh  word  Rock,  anfwering  to  the  Latin  Saxum  or 
Petra;  but  v.-as  the  old  Teutonic  word  for  Co'us,  a  Dijiaff;  which  is  Aill  called  by  the  Germans,  ein 
SriNKRocKEN,  \n  Lctf. Dutch  Spinn-rock.  Rock  indeed,  in  the  fame  languages  as  well  as  in  the 
ytnglo-Saxon,  alfo  fignifies  a  Coot  or  Gonvn ;  whence  perhaps  the  French  Roquet  and  Rcqueleau  :  And 
the  Evglifo  Saxons  befides  the  word  Rocc  likcwife  ufed  the  fame  word  for  Dijiaff  (Dijlaf)  which  we 

have 

antlior  obferves,  the  porter,  not  knowing  of  their  coming,  might  be  too  far  ofT  to  give  them  ready  admiflion.  Enraged  at 
t'li',  Ordulph  (or  Edulph  as  he  calls  him)  with  both  his  hands,  apparently  without  much  difiliulty,  broke  the  bars  and 
bolt.1,  and  ufing  alfo  the  force  of  his  feet,  unhinged  the  valves  of  the  gate,  ihattci'd  them  to  pieces,  and  threw  down  a 
part  of  the  wall  adjoining:  As  if  he  meant  to  fhew  the  king  how  far  he  could  match  Sanipfon,  who  forced  open  and  car. 
lied  off  the  gates  of  Gaza  ;  but  the  other  courtiers  prcfent  it  foems,  to  diminifh  his  applaufe,  afciibed  the  whole  to  diabolical 
aflitlance  rather  than  to  any  human  power.  Vide  Malmfb.  de  geftis  Pontif.  Angl.  lib.  2.  p.  146.  Ed.  Sa\il.  Script,  poll 
Bcdam.     See  alfo  the  Extrafts  from  him  in  Lcland's  Colleftanea,  torn.  2.  p.  256. 

Ci)  Claud.  Salmafius  in  Solinum,  pag.  641.  "  Ad  xquinoftialis  diei  partes  duodenario  numero  aequaliter  dividendas, 
Babyloiiii  Graetique  omnes  Aftrologi  v«teres  ct  Gnonionici  rationes  fuas  accommodarunt.  Nee  fane  aliter  fieri  potuit.  Et 
hoc  ita  fiebat  nondum  publicato  horarum  nomine  et  ufu.  Pofl  eas  repertas  et  Horologia  inventa,  quuni  bora:  ipf«  variarcnt 
«  pro  dierum  ratione  modo  breviores  modo  longiores  ponerentur.  Aftronomi  tamen  Aftrologique  omnes,  et  Cnomonici, 
inluper  habiu  horarum  civili  obfervatione,  arquinoftiales  Tolas  ad  ufum  ac  rationes  fuas  ohfervabant.  Etcnim  cum  horologia 
omnia  turn  ad  curfum  Soils  facia,  horas  exhiberent  omnium  anni  menftuni  ex  umbrarum  momentis  crcfcentesac  decrcfcentes, 
folics  Gnomonis  zquinociialis  umbras  refpiciebant,  gnonionici  et  rationes  omnes  Mathematicas  ad  eum  dirigebant." — He 
(ben  refers  to  Vitruvius,  lib  1.  c.  vi.  and  adds, — "  Etiam  diverfi  regionum  fitus,  quos  varia  facit  inclinatio  corli,  quique 
iex  umbrarum  incrcnientis  ac  mutationibns'  dep  ehenduntur,  non  aliter  coUigi  folebant,  nifi  per  umbrz  alquinoftialis  gnomo- 
^rxn."  And  afui  citing  lib.  ix.  c.8.  of  Vitruvius,  to  which  this  is  inferted  as  a  note  under  p.  197  of  Laet's  edition  (Leyd. 
1649),  to  fhew  that  various  places  have  various  lengths  of  the  equinoftial  fhadow  (as  indeed  they  muft,  if  of  different  lati- 
todcs,  varying  according  to  the  elevation  cf  the  pole  and  confequent  dcprelTion  of  the  equator),  he  concludes,  "  ldc»> 
qaibufcumquc  in  Ipcis  horologia  dcfcribcrentur,  eo  loci  fumcbant  squinoclialem  nnibram.  Quinctiam  ad  dierum  augment! 
^  decrementa  per  bngulo.  mcnfes  indicandanon  aliis  horis  quam  aequinodialibus  utnntur  veteres  Calendariorum  auftores."— 
Aanout.  iu  Vitruv.  edit,  fubtradift.   p.  197 Vide  &  Strab.  lib  2.  fub  (ineni,  et  alibi  pallim. 

(?)  Being  not  fufficiently  acquainted  with  the  riquifite  changes  of  letters  and  other  diftinctions  which  the  various  infltc- 
tioni  in  the  compofiiion  and  conftrutlion  of  the  Britidi  ot  other  Celtic  diale6)s  frequently  require,  to  be  anfwerable  for  the 
•rift  propriety  of  thcfe  fuppofed  appcllationi ;  I  miifl  dtfire  the  excufe  of  the  Cambro  Britifh  reader,  for  any  deviation 
fc-owi  ortliographir  nircty  in  them;  finre  any  little  error  of  this  kind  cannot  materially  affcQ  the  general  dcdudtion  from  it> 
iia  irfped  to  their  (ubfequcnt  cbanget  for  woidi  of  fimiUr  found.     CUapplc. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  79 

Mi.  Chappie  informs  us,  "  that  like  moft  others,  it  has  only  three  fupporters ;  flat,  and 
irregular  in  their  Ihape  ;  their  furfaces  rough  and  unpolifli'd ;  and  their  pofition  not 
diretlly  upright  but  more  or  lefs  leaning,  (two  to  the  northward,  and  the  other  to  the 
fouth  and  eall),  and  yet  lb  as  firmly  to  fultain  the  very  ponderous  table-ftone  which 
covers  them  -.  The  whole  forming  a  kind  of  large  irregular  tripod,  and  of  fuch  a  height 
as  if  defigned  for  the  ieat  to  the  queen  of  Brobdingnag'^  dwarf,  or  the  footftool  of  GulB- 
'ver-'s  nurle  ;  its  upper  I'urface  being,  where  higheft,  near  9  feet  and  half  from  thegroand, 
and  the  whole  on  an  average  at  leaft  8  feet.  The  greateft  length  of  its  table-ftone  be- 
tween its  two  r.ioll  diftant  angles  is  about  i  5  feet,  but  takeii  parallel  to  its  fides  about  14, 
and  at  a  medium  not  above  13  feet  and  half  j  its  greateft  breadth  10  feet,  but  this  mea- 
fur'd  at  right  angles  in  that  part  where  its  two  oppofite  fides  are  nearly  parallel,  is  at  a 
medium  but  9  feet  10  inches.  Its  form,  on  a  fuperficial  view,  has  been  commonly  con- 
sidered as  that  of  an  irregular  Trapeziujn,  two  of  whofe  4.  fides  are  partly  curv'd,  another 
wholly  lb,  and  only  one  appears  to  be  in  a  right  line  j  but  even  this  is  not  ftriftly  fo. 
Tiiis,  fome  would  have  to  be  the  ftiape  in  which  it  happen'd  to  be  form'd  in  its  quarry, 
with  little  or  no  alteration  by  the  hand  of  a  workman ;  but  on  a  nicer  examination  it 
appears  to  form  an  hexagonal  figure,  three  of  whole  fides  are  ftraight  lines  (faving  a  very 
fmall  curvature  at  the  extremity  of  one  of  them),  and  the  other  three,  curves  ;  and  theie 
deicribed  with  the  utmoft  regularity  and  exaftnefs  :  Wherefore,  tho'  we  may  fometimes 
occafionally  call  it  a  Trapezium,  it  muft  not  be  fo  ftriftly  underftood  as  having  that  kind 
of  figure  to  w^hich  geometers  confine  that  name.  The  upper  part  of  this  trapezium  or 
table-ftone,  is  as  ufual  in  other  Cromlechs,  bulging  and  gibbous,  or,  as  the  country- 
people  exprefs  it,  faJdle -backed;  but  its  under  furface,  tho'  not  fmoothly  polifh'd,  is,  or 
originally  was,  almoft  e\'ery-v.'here  a  plane,  and  free  from  irregular  knobs  or  bunches. 
This  plane  makes  an  angle  with  the  plane  of  the  horizon  of  about  3  degrees  and  55 
minut€s :  For  it  is  to  be  obft-rv'd,  that  its  three  fupporters  are  of  unequal  heights,  and 
confequently  the  plane  they  fupport  cannot  be  horizontal,  but  inclines  a  little  downward, 
as  is  the  cafe  in  moft  other  Cromlechs  we  have  any  account  of,  at  leaft  of  thofe  in  the  Britrjb 
ifles  that  have  been  with  any  degree  of  precifion  defcribed.  Among  other  feeming  irre- 
gularities, the  inequality  of  the  heights  of  the  fupporters,  which  occafions  this  inciinatioa 
or  declivity,  and  gives  ours  a  dip  towards  the  fouth-weft,  was  not  accidental,  but  defign- 
edly  chofen  as  moft  expedient  to  anfwer  the  purpofes  for  which  the  Cromlech  was  eredled. 
The  thicknefs  of  the  table-ftone  is  different  in  different  parts  of  it.  In  the  part  over  the 
middle  fupporter,  which  moft  bulges  or  fwells  upward,  it  has  been  found,  on  a  late 
careful  menfuration  of  it,  to  be  not  lefs  than  3  feet  and  feven  inches :  From  thence  this 

thicknefs 

have  retain'd ;  but  that  they  alfo  (and  perhaps  more  frequently)  ufed  the  former  in  this  fenfe  h  fuffi- 

cjently  evident. The  Saxon  name  of  our  Cromlech  being  thus  eftablhh'd,  and  the  Spinners' 

employment  at  their  rock  implied  in  it,  however  underftood  at  firft,  this  ambiguous  word,  Roci, 
came  at  length  to  be  taken  in  its  moft  common  fenfe,  as  referring  to  the  rock  from  whence  the 
materials  of  this  ftrudure  were  fiipplied  j  DiflafFs  being  little  ufed  in  De-vorjhhe,  and  fcarce  known 
in  this  part  of  it,  where  no  flax  or  hemp  is  grown.  Hence  the  ftory  of  the  three  fpinfters,  and  their 
labour  in  eredling  the  fabrick  fuppos'd  to  have  its  denomination  from  them,  might  eafily  hare  its 
rife  ;  and,  only  changing  the  DiftafF  for  a  Spinning-wheel,  and  adding  fome  embeliifhments,  became 
thefubjed  of  a  common  tale  among  nurfes,  to  pleafe  children,  and  amufe  the  ignorant.  Let  it 
however  be  remember'd,  that  this  derivation  of  its  vulgar  name,  (tho'  perhaps  not  lefs  probable 
than  any  hitherto  given  of  the  Biitijh  word  Cromlech,)  is  propofed  as  conjedural  only;  and  its  pro- 
bability or  improbability  fubmitted  to  the  difcuflion  of  the  judicious  reader."  Chappie's Defcription, 
p.  97  to  108. 

My  commentator  on  Chappie  further  obferves :  "  I  muft  make  one  remark  on  the  tradition  which 
the  author  gives  relative  to  this  flrudure,  concerning  the  three  .'adie; — with  regard  to  which,  my 
accounts  differ  and  go  rather  farther.  My  accounts  fay  that  the  tradition  varies — fome  times  it  is 
three  young  men,  and  fometimes  three  young  ladies.  But  the  tradition  goes  farther,  and  fays,  that  not 
only  the  three  pillars  were  ereded  in  memory  of  the  three  young  ones,  but  that  the  Jlat  one  which 
covers  them  was  placed  there  in  memory  oi  their  father,  or  mother,  according  as  you  fuppofed  tl» 
young  ones  to  be  male  and  female,  and  that  each  of  thefe,  both  young  and  old,  fetched  thefe  ftones 
down  from  the  higheft  parts  of  the  mountain  of  Dartmoor,  where,  for  fome  reafon  or  other,  they 
had  thought  fit  to  take  up  their  refidence.  Perhaps  the  ex^r^f^Aon  LITy  Spier.nicr,  which  the  author 
feems  to  think  implies  ^jpying  ot  fur-v  eying  place,  might  give  rife  to  the  ide^  of /pinners,  and  this  tur« 
them  into  three  ladies.  But  you  will  perhaps  guefs  why  I  encline  to  fuppofe  thefe  ftones  might  be 
erefled,  among  other  reafons,  in  memorj'  of  an  clj  ninn  and  his  three  J>.ni,  who  de^'cended  from  aa 
exceeding  high  mountain,  on  a  certain  occafion." 


8o  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

thicknefs  diminiflies  more  or  lefs  every  way  towards  the  fides  of  the  trapezoid  refpeftively, 
where  the  thicknefles  alio  vary.  For,  towards  the  north-weft,  it  is  from  20  inches  to  a 
feet  thick  :  the  arch'd  part  at  the  north-eaft  is  rounded  off  to  a  blunt  edge,  both  above 
and  below :  the  Ibuth-eaft  fide  (where  its  thicknefs  would  otherwife  be  17  inches)  is 
under-cut  inward,  fo  as  to  form  a  reclining  plane  22  inches  in  the  flope  back,  or  14. 
inches  horizontally ;  and  this  reclining  continues  for  7  feet  and  7  inches  in  length,  to 
that  point  where  the  curvilinear  boundary  begins.  Between  this  point  and  that  part 
which  proje(5ls  over  the  eaftern  edge  of  the  lower  prop,  there  has  been  an  excavation 
of  its  upper  furface,  and  a  feeming  abruption  of  fome  part  of  it  ^  whether  originally 
fo  defign'd,  or  the  effeft  of  violence  fince,  we  may  hereafter  have  occafion  to  enquire. 
On  the  whole,  the  average  thicknefs  of  this  covering  ftone  may  be  eftimated  at  one 
foot  ajid  9  inches,  or  near  half  the  greateft  thicknefs  of  its  bulging  part.  But  more  of 
this,  and  of  the  nature  and  length  of  the  curves  which  form  three  on  its  fides,  when  we 

come  to  fpecify  its  dimenfions  and  properties  more  minutely. This  may  fuffice  at  pre- 

fent,  with  regard  to  its  general  dimenfions  and  form  ;  of  which  latter  however,  the  View 
of  it  prefix'd  to  this  traft  will  give  thofe  who  have  not  feen  it  a  more  perfeft  idea  than 
any  verbal  defcription.(<^)  But  as,  among  other  dimenfions,  having  repeatedly  furvey'd 
it,  in  order  to  have  a  perfefl  plan,  I  took  care  (by  girthing  and  otherwife)  to  have  fufticient 
to  determine  its  folidity  alfo  ;  and  from  thence,  and  the  known  I'pecific  gravity  of  the  moor 
ftone  of  which  it  wholly  confifts,  to  be  enabled  to  ellimate  its  lueigbt ;  it  may  be  more 
proper  here  to  give  the  relult  of  thole  meafures,  than  to  interrupt  our  intended  enquiries 

into  its  geometrical  conftxuftion  by  introducing  it  there. The  areas  of  the  feveral 

parts  into  which  the  plane  of  its  under  lurface  was  to  be  divided,  as  the  different  thick- 
nefles required,  in  order  to  obtain  their  refpeftive  folidities,  being  requifite  to  be  firft 
afcertain'd  ;  I  thence  found  the  liim  of  thofe  areas,  or  the  whole  fuperficial  area  of  this 
undermoft  lurface  or  plain  part  of  the  table- ftone,  to  be  125  fquare  feet;  being  not  quite 
half  of  a  fquare  perch,  tho'  very  little  fliort  as  wanting  not  a  12th  part  of  it.  And  this 
is  the  quantity  of  ground  it  covers,  or  rather  overlhadows,  at  about  6  feet  and  3  or  four 
inches,  on  an  average,  in  height  from  the  furface  of  the  ground  :  which  height  is  meant 
of  the  under  part  of  the  ftone  only  ;  that  of  its  upper  (as  may  be  gathered  from  the  above 

dimenfions)  being  from  6  to  at  leaft  9  feet  and  half. The  different  thicknefles  being 

carefully  diftinguifh'd  as  above,  with  the  fuperficial  areas  under  each,  and  the  bulging 
upwards  allowd  for ;  I  thence  found  the  whole  folidity  of  the  faid  ftone  (difregarding  a 
very  fmall  fraftion  of  a  foot)  to  be  216  cubic  feet  very  nearly.  Now  a  cubic  foot  of 
water  weighing  621b. |  a'voirdupois,  and  the  fpecific  gravity'  of  moorftone  being  found,  by 
the  experiments  of  Mr.  Labelye  the  IVeflniinJier  Bridge  Engineer,  to  be  to  that  of  water, 
as  2.656  to  I  J  from  the  above  folidity  we  have  216  x  62,5  >i  2.656  — 358561b.  a^voirdupois, 
for  the  neat  weight  of  the  covering  ftone  of  this  Cromlech :  that  is,  in  grofs  weight  (reck- 
oning as  ufual  ii2lb.  to  the  hundred,  and  20  fuch  hundreds  to  make  a  t\in),  Jixteen 
tun,  with  an  addition  of  16  pounds  a-voirdupoii.^by    The  ule  of  the  Cromlech  has  been 

a  fubje(it 

(j)  Mr.  Chappie  Is  perfeftly  right  in  this  oblervatlon.  The  VUiv  intended  for  his  tra£t,  might 
have  precluded  this  tedious  deicription. 

{h)  A  former  computation  made  it  not  quite  12  tun ;  but  on  re-examining  the  dimenfions,  it  ap- 
pear'd,  that  the  greateft  thicknefs  had  been  therein  reckon'd  a  whole  foot  lefs  than  it  really  is :  And 
even  the  prefent  corredidn  of  that  miftake,  makes  it  ftill  lefs  than  a  perfon,  from  a  rough  guefs  at  it 
on  a  view  only,  would  have  taken  it  to  be.  Our  Crctr.lcch  at  Drcivs  Teignton  has,  perhaps,  fuffered 
lefs,  either  from  internal  decay  or  external  violence,  than  moll  others*  This  '^like  thofe  in  Cornwall) 
is  of  moor-ftone,  which  is  known  to  ftand  all  v-eathers;  and  accordingly  it  has  hitherto  refifted  the 
furious  aflfaults  of  the  mofl  raging  ftorms.  No  lefs  firm  in  its  fabrication  than  other  ftruftures  of  the 
Kke  kind  are  faid  to  be,  it  flill  continues  free  from  all  danger  of  removal  by  the  utmoft  efforts  of 
human  force,  unlefs  afTifted  by  artificial  contrivances ;  and  only  obnoxious  to  be  thrown  down  by 
the  fhock  of  an  earthquake,  the  accidental  direftion  of  a  thunder-bolt,  or  the  modern  imitation  of 
thunder  by  the  help  of  gunpowder.  It  is  moreover  fecured,  by  the  care  of  its  prefent  worthy  owner, 
as  it  has  hitherto  been  by  the  plenty  of  other  ftones  at  no  great  dillance  from  it,  from  the  avarice  of 
fuch  perfons  as  have  elfe-where  blown  up  other  itruftures  of  the  like  kind,  for  building  or  other 
ufes :  And  tho'  by  fome  deem'd  a  monument  of  ancient  idolatry,  yet  this  being  unfufpefted  by 
the  depredators  of  the  UA  century  at  leaf\,  has  alfo  happily  efcaped  the  wantonnef*  of  i^jilitary 

tnifchieff 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  8l 

a  fubjc(5l  of  much  conjefture.  (a)  An  ingenious  writer  fays,  that  the  Cromlech  is  the 
Bith  he  ram  of  the  Canaanites  \{^b)  and  that  its  name  deciaies  it  to  have  been  a  temple 

dedicated 

m*ifchief,(i)  and  the  fury  of  fanatic  reformers.  So  that  we  ftiU  have  its  eflential  parts  entire  (tho' 
unattended  by  the  fatellites  which  probably  once  furrounded  it),  and  can  the  better  examine  into, 
and  judge  of  its  original  defit^n,  and  the  ufes  for  which  it  was  ereded.  Chappie's  Defcription, 
p.  70  to  72.  [b)  Jorti.  XIII,  27. 

{a)  One  would  have  the  monument  in  queftion  for  the  purpofes  of  a  heathen  temple :  For  a 
regard  for  heathen  temples  is  no  lefs  in  the  tafte  of  the  times,  than  profpefts  of  the  venerable  ruins 
of  dilapidated  churches,  defecrated  chapels,  and  fupprefs'd  religious  houfes :  Nay,  fome  (as  if 
alhamed  of  the  chrifti^m  piety  of  their  anceftors)  chools  rather  to  fubvert  and  efface  all  remains  of 
the  latter,  to  make  room  or  fupply  materials  for  the  former. — Another  demands  it  as  an  ancient  altar 
for  human  facrifices  ;  and  which,  if  reftored  to  its  original  ufe,  miglit  make  quicker  difpatch  in  that 
bufinefs,  than  the  modern  mode  of  fending  the  viftims  on  (hipboard,  or  into  the  army,  for  the  eafe 
and  benefir  of  the  pari(h.(2) — A  third  lays  claim  to  it  as  a  family  bury.ng-place  j  and  digs  up  the 
bones  of  his  anceflors  (who,  to  fignify  to  pofterity  their  own  gre  -t  importdnce,  chofe  to  take  their 
long  deep  under  fo  grand  a  canopy),  to  be  produced  as  unqueliionable  evidences  of  uninterrupted 
pofTeffion. — A  fourth,  with  more  appearance  of  reafon,  infifts  on  its  havi.  g  been  the  place  of  a 
druidical  court-leet;  and  pleads  (unoribed  by  a  fee)  in  behalf  of  the  lord  of  the  manor,  that  he, 
having  not  only  the  chancellorship  of  the  court-baron  incident  thereto,  but  alfo  the  view  of  frank- 
pledge, has  confeqnently  a  legal  ri^ht  to  hold  that  cou  t  in  the  anciently  accufiomed  place. (3)— 
Some,  who  are  not  fo  immediately  concern'd,  are  content  to  wait  the  iflTue  cf  the  difpute  5  whilft 
others,  obferving,  and  defirous  to  avail  themfelves  of,  the  flaws  in  the  pleas  and  procecdinj's  of  the 
difputants,  are  inclined  to  protra<ff  it,  and  to  pol^pone  any  final  oecificn  by  demurs  and  delays; 
hoping  in  the  mean  while  to  fet  up  fome  claim  of  their  own,  to  fome  fhare  at  leaft,  of  the  premifes 

contended  for. Thus  ftands  the  matter  at  prefent :  How  far  any-thing  here  to  be  alledg'd  may 

conduce  to  put  an  end  to  the  conteft,  muft  be  left  to  the  determination  of  the  judges."  Chappie's 
Defcription,  p.  67  to  70. 

"  The  different  opinions  of  antiquarians  concerning  their  primary  ufe  and  defign,  may  be  reciucibls 
to  thefe  :  viz.  That  they  were  either  temples,  or  altars,  or  courts  of  judicature,  or  places  of  legif- 
lation,  where  new  laws  were  proclaim'd,  or  the  old  enforced ;  or  for  public  orations  to  the  people, 

on  thefe  or  other  fubjefts  ;  or  laiily,  for  fepulchral  monument.s.^ That  facrifices  might  be  offer'dj 

courts  of  judicature  held,  or  laws  promulgated,  in  convenient  places  at  or  near  them,  is  not  alto- 
gether improbable  :  And  that  fome  of  them  have  been  occafionally  applied  to  the  purpofes  of  fepul- 
ture  and  memorials  of  the  dead,  is  pretty  certain ;  there  being  one  or  more  in  Comivall  that  have 
cairns,  or  (as  the  De-v-^mans,  from  the  Saxon,  mofl  properly  call  them  (jlone-hurroiui)  under  their 
covering-flones  :  Some  of  the  Damp  Cromlechs  are  alfo  faid  to  be  placed  on  the  top  of  a  barrow(4), 
and  an  urn  is  faid  to  have  been  found  under  one  of  them  in  Ireland.  But  that  they  were  originally 
defign'd  for  neither  of  thefe  purpofes  (at  leaft  that  ours  at  Drc-.vs  Teigntou  was  not),  'tis  prefumed 
will  fufficiently  appear  from  what  follows.  Mean  while,  let  it  be  here  obferv'd,  that  as  far  as  their 
ufes  have  been  guefs'd  at,  from  the  ftone  circles  by  which  fome  of  them  were  furrounded,  or  to 
which  they  were  annexed,  fo  far  the  defign  of  fuch  circles  has  of  courfe  become  the  obje(ft  of  enquiry 
among  the  writers  on  this  fubjedt  j  as  being  deem'd  prior  to  the  Cromlechs  with  which  they  are  fre- 
quently connefted,  and  which  have  been  fuppofed  additional  appendages  to  them  :  fo  that  a  difcovery 
of  the  defigns  of  the  Druidi  in  thofe,  was  thought  t!ie  mol^  likely  to'indicate  the  fubfervient  ufes  of 
thefe.  But  it  will  perhaps  appear,  that  the  real  ufes  of  f'uch  circjes  may,  with  greater  probability, 
be  difcovered  from  the  conftrudion  and  dcfign  of  the  Cromlechs,  if  this  can  from  other  evidence  be 

more 

(i)  The  foldicrs  during  the  civil  wars,  out  of  wantonnefs,  and  to  try  the  conjurftive  force  of  a  number  of  men  in  remov" 
ing  the  largeft  ftones  pois'd  on  each  other  in  divers  parts  of  Cornwall,  arc  faid  to  have  thrown  fome  of  them  down  :  And 
Dr.  Borjafe  from  Mr.  Scawen's  MS  informs  us  (Antiq.  of  Cbrnw.  p.  171),  that  "  in  the  time  of  Cromwell,  ■'  when  all 
monumental  things  became  defpicablt)  one  Shrubfall  then  Governor  of  Pciit'ennis,  by  much  ado,  caus'd"  the  logging  Stone 
call'd  Men-amber  in  the  parifh  of  Sithney  in  that  county,  "  to  be  undermined  and  thrown  down,  to  the  great  grief  of  the 
country." 

{2)  This  praaice  is  faid  to  have  b«n  prevalent  in  Q.  Anne's  time ;  and  fome  think  it  is,  in  fome  places,  not  yet  wholly 
Qifconiinued.  -  However  this  be,  we  know  of  no  lock-up  houfes  in  Devonlhiie. 

(3)  k  has  been  the  opinion  of  fome  lawyers,  that  where  a  court-lcet  has  been,  time  immemorial,  held  at  one  certain 
place  within  its  precinft,  it  ought  to  be  continued  there  and  not  clfewherc  :  And  Jacob  (in  his  Couit  keeper  p.  3.)  quotes 
Magna Charta  as  requiring  it  to  beheld  in  loco  certo  ac  determinato  :  But  that  ftatute  (cap.  35)  only  lays,  the  Sneiifl'sTom 
in  the  hundred  fhall  be  kept,  non  nifi  in  loco  debito  &  confueto ;  and  with  refpe6t  to  the  leet  (which  indeed  was  derived 
from  it),  only  limits  the  time  when,  but  not  the  place  v,h6re,  it  is  to  be  annually  held.  So  that  the  place  for  the  leet 
feems  to  be  left  ad  libitum,  provided  it  be  within  the  precinct ;  and  accordingly  Sir  William  Scroggs  fays,  a  court-leet  may 
be  held  in  any  place  within  the  hundred,  parifh,  or  manor,  for  which  it  is  kept.  See  Scroggs  of  Courts  Leet,  p.  12 — — 
This  (which  in  a  ferious  view  is  foreign  to  our  fubjcttj  is  only  noted  heie,  to  prevent  any  milUke  of  the  allufion  to  it  above. 

(4)  Borlafe's  Antiq.  Cornw.   p.  213, 

Vol.  I.  t 


8t  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

dedicated  to  tbeij-  god,  the  heavens,   under  the  attribvite  of  the  froje£lor,  eye  mover  of 
tilings  projetJVed.     Mr.  Cliapple  was  of  opinion,  tliat  the  Cromlech  was  defigned  for  the 

apparatus 

more  certainly  knowiv  as  'tis  prefnmed  it  may  •.  And  therefore  the  examination  of  fuch  circles  wiH 
moft  regularly  follow  that  of  the  Crondtchi ;  and  only  here  require  notice  as  commonly  join'd  with 
them  in  the  difquifitions  cf  the  authors  recited  concerning  the  latter.     They  have  been  generally 
fuppofed  open  temples  of  the  Dru'uh,  and  the  CromIicb$  as  fo  many  altars  for  th.eir  facrifices.     We 
have  already  uken  tKKice  of  this,  as  being  the  opinion  of  M.  Malhtt  and  Mr.  o  Halhran  \  and  indeed 
in  this  they  agree  with  the  generality  of  the  lateft  ^vriters  on  the  fubjeS,  who  have  evinc'd  thefe 
rock-monuments  to  be  undoubtedly  Ccluc,  and  moft  uf  them,  1 1  not  all,  to  be  contrived  by  the  Drmdi ; 
who,  beiidcs  their  facerdotai  othces  and  pretend. d  prophetic  charaftcr,  were  not  only  the  arbiters  of 
all  controverfies  in  refpeft  either  to  tlie  religion  or  the  laws  of  the  Celtic  nation  and  colonics,  but 
were  alfo  the  only  profeflbrs  of  philofophy  and  fcience  anx)ngft  them  -.  So,  that  fuch  ftone  cirques 
and  entabhtures  were  really  produ£Hot\s  of  their  .irt  and  ingenuity  (for  whatever  purpofes  defigr.'d) 
may  be  prefnmed  on  as  indlfputable,  and  no%v  generally  taken  for  granted.    For  the  notions  of  their 
being  erefted  by  the  Rimjr.i  as  feme  have  fuppofed,  or  as  trophies  of  vidtories  obtained  by  them, 
or  by  the  Sjsor'i  o^Dur.cs,  as  others  wovild  ptrfuade  us,  have  been  defervediy  reprobated,  as  utterly 
deftituteof  the  leaft  prob.ibility.     But  tho'  we  muft  admit  them  to  be  undeniably  druidical,  yet 
diat  they  were  all  originally  intended  for  religious  purpofes,  is  not  fo  unqueftlonable,  howe%'er  coii- 
fonant  to  the  united  fuffrages  of  the  beft  writers  concerning  them,  not  excepting  Dr.  Borlaje ;  rho' 
indeed  lie  on  good  evidence  differs  from  them  all,  in  denying  that  the  Cramlccts^  with  which  they 
are  frequently  connefled,  could  po'Jibly  be  intended  for  alters ;   of  which,  after  what  has  been 
already  faid  on  that  fubjeS  in  the  preceding  pages,  we  need  not  here  adduce  his  proofs.    Were  it  to 
fee  granted  that  all  fuch  monuments  were  (as  he  thinks)  originally  of  religious  inrtitution,  or  eA-en 
tho'  not  io  primarily  defign'd,  yet  if  afterwards  thought  proper  to  be  connected  with  any  fuch,  and 
had  altars  and  r.t  places  near  diem  dedicated  to  the  worfhip  of  the  gods,  the  fuppofed  fubfequent  ufes 
of  thefe,  as  rlaces  of  council,  treaties  tie.aions,  and  difpenfations  of  law  and  juftice,    would  all 
very  narurdly  follow,     for  "  next  to  religion,"  (as  the  fame  author  obferves)(i),  «  govtrnment 
muft  be  fuppoied  to  have  ciaim'd  the  attention,  and  empioy'd  the  labour  and  aiTs  of  mankind  ^  and 
in  crdsr  to  give  weight  to  the  moil  folemn  afts  of  the  fociety,  where  could  aiTemblies  be  held  more 
propcr'.y  than  in  places  confecrated  to  religion,  already  reverenc'd  equally  by  the  ncbles  and  tlie 
commonality,  and  therefore  likely  to  influence  thofe  who  were  to  make  laws  and  govern,  as  well  as 

awe  thofe  wh-j  wjre  to  follow  them  and  obey?" Places  dirtinguiih'd  by  the  rites  of  religious 

worfhip,  and  fanflified  by  the  fuppofed  prefence  of  the  Deity,  would  (as  he  further  obferves)  be 
thou^bt  "  moft  likely  to  infpire  the  rulers  with  juftice  and  knowledge,  and  the  people  with  fub- 
tnifTion,'''  add  a  fanaioa  to  the  laws  there  made,  render  oatlis  more  obligatory,  and  do\ib!c  the  im- 
pietv  of  anv  \-iobticns  of  a?mpafts  there  made,  or  difturbance  of  friendships  there  contraded.— 
"  Befides  (adds  he)  the  ancients  took  care  that  all  civil  treaties,  laws  and  eleftions  (houW  be  attended 
by  facrifices ;  that  place  mull  therefore  ferve  moft  commodiotifly  for  ratifyi  g  fuch  atfls  of  tlie  com- 
munity, where  they  could  fo  eafily  have  aft  the  means  of  the  moft  facred  atteftations,  a«  priefts, 
altars,' and  viiftims  to  confirm  t!iem.  ' — Places  thus  dignified  by  religious  rites  there  performed  (.is 
he  proceeds  to  obferve,(i",  ftili  fpeaking  of  the  ftone  circles),  would  afterwards  be  naturally  cliofen 
as  moft  proper  for  affemolies  on  any  emergent  or  extraordinary  occafions,  and  be  accordingly  ufed 
both  as  pl^es  of  worfhip  and  council  i  and  having  altars  near  ;hem  (tho'  he  admits  not  their  Ciow;- 
U.r.t  to  be  fuch)  --"ould  of  courfe  become  tlie  cmue  and  fora  of  the  fame  community.  But  whether 
thofe  circles  of  Ik>nes  were  originally  intended  for  temples  or  not ;  or  whether  for  the  judges,  coun- 
fellors,  or  nobles,  to  ftand  or  fit  by  or  upon,  according  to  their  dignity  and  rank,  at  their  courts, 
treaties  or  eledlions,  as  the  Doftor  and  many  other  writers  have  fuppofed  ;  is  (for  the  reafon  before 
given',  not  fo  properly  the  fubjcft  of  our  examination  at  prefent,  tho'  it  has  been  commonly  inter- 
woven therewith,  as  a  recital  of  the  fentiments  of  thofe  writers  concerning  the  Cromhcbs  that  have 
been  ereded  in  or  near  them.  With  refpeft  to  thefe,  Dr.  Bcrla(c[-7,\  after  fhewing  their  unfitnefs 
for  altars  (tho'  he  thinks  it  not  unlikely  that  the  ancients  might  facritice  near  tkem,  whence  the  great 
quantities  of  afhes  found  near  thofe  in  Jerky)-,  afTigns  his  reafon  for  fuppofing  them  jefulchral 
monuments.  This  he  not  only  infers  from  the  tumuli,  to  be  met  with  under  fome  of  them,  but 
inte 
fayt 

confifting  I „  J      ,. 

eftimate  he  had  juft  before  given  (in  p.  214)  ol  the  dimenfions  of  fuch  a  monument,  to  render  this 
kind  of  evidence  confilUnt,  fhould  mean  thofe  of  a  common  Kift-'vaen\  not  of  a  Cromlech  ;  tho'  it 
be  rhcre  ex-irefs'd  at  if  fpoken  of  the  latter,  and  the  fuppofed  fitnefs  of  its  fize  for  a  human  body, 
h'lt  reprefcnting  the  area  under  its  quoit  as  only  about  6  feet  and  half  long  by  4  feet  wide,  which 
rives  no  mc-re  than  26  fquare  feet,  agreeable  to  the  dimenfions  of  the  ancient  Sancfbagi ;  whereas 
^  thofe 

(1)  ftid,  p.  i<ji.  jgi.  (2)  ?•  «92.  '93-  (3)  Pi»4.  ««:.• 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  9$ 

thofe  of  the  Cromlech  at  Motfroy  and  otFiers  which  he  himrelf  dcfcribes,  as  weO  as  of  ovn  at  Drcua 
'Tagnton,  give  near  5  times  tliat  area  (fome  perliaps  more),  and  coufequently  room  for  as  many  dead 
bodies,  inrtead  of  the  fmgle  ones  iiKlofed  in  the  common  KiJ{--vaiBs.  Accoidingly  fyoimixt,  vthom 
Dr.  Bor.'iiff  quotes  in  his  next  page,  as  mentioning  a  Crypto  and  a  Crsvihcb  together  in  wie  barrow, 
from  the  many  human  bones  taken  out  of  the  firft,  might  well  conclude  it  "  to  have  been  the  bury- 
ing-place  of  fome  iUuftrious  family  5"  but  the  Doctor's  conclufions  from  thefe  premifes  ftem  to  limit 
even  the  CromUcbs,  nouvithftanrljng  their  fuperior  magnitude,  to  the  more  confined  contents  of  tlie 
Kifl-vaens,  and  as  appropriated  to  the  fepukure  of  Jingle  perfons  wily.  For  having  before  obferv'd, 
after  inferring  from  the  fuppos'd  fimilarity  of  Cram}cchi  to  KiJI-^'jctts,  t'lat  tlie  former  wert  for  the 
fame  purpofes,  only  conftnifted  on  a  larger  plan, — that  "  the  fupporters,  as  well  as  cove  ring- il  one, 
are  no  more  than  the  fuggeflion  of  the  common  univerfal  fenfe  of  mankind,  which  was,  firft,  on 
every  fide  to  fence  and  furround  the  dead-body  from  the  violences  of  weather,  and  from  the  rage  of 
enemies ;  and  in  the  next  place,  by  the  grandeur  of  its  conftru^ion  to  do  htxioar  to  the  memory  of 
the  dead ; — he  here  concludes  thus  (p.  215) :  "  It  is  very  probable  therefore,  that  the  ufe  and  intent 
of  the  CrojfiLb  was  primarily  to  diftinguiih,  and  to  do  honour  to  the  dead,  and  alfo  to  incjpfe  the 
dead  body,  by  placing  the  fupporters  and  covering- ftone  fo  as  they  ihould  furround  it  on  all  fides." 
But  then  he  thinks  perfons  of  eminence  only  were  dignified  with  fuch  a  fepulchral  monument ;  fuch 
as  a  Chief  Prieft  or  Druid,  or  fome  Prince,  a  favourite  of  tliat  order ;  efpecialiy  when  it  was  erefted 
in  the  middle  of  a  facred  circus,  or  on  the  edge  of  fuch  a  circle,  when  its  middle  v.as  already  taken 
up  by  a  fmgie  obelifk,  which  be  fuppofes  to  have  been  always  regarded  as  a  fymbol  of  fomething 
divine,  and  generally  worfliip'd ;  and  that  the  Cromlech  fo  placed  might  perhaps  refpeft  a  particular 
region  of  the  heavens:    And  then  adds  (p.  216),  "  Princes  and  great  commanders  were  not  only 

i»terr'd  in  a  barrow,  but  had  their  fepulchres  farther  dignified  by  a  Cronl  b  erected  for  tliem." 

Having  thus  epitomiz'd  the  obfervations  and  fentiments  of  Dr.  Boriafe  in  refptft  to  the  Tjfcs  of 
Crom/rchsj  which  he  too  haftily  concludes  to  have  been  orig'nally  defigned  for  fepulchral  monuments, 
I  w:uld  only  here  recommend  to  the  reader  a  fufpenfion  of  his  judgment  thereon,  as  he  may  pro- 
bably hereafter  be  fully  convinc'd,  that  they  could  not  have  been  originally  intended  by  tVtDrvids 
as  fepulchres  for  their  Chiefs,  or  indeed  for  any-one  elfe  ;  at  leaf!  that  onrs  couM  not  be  fo  applied, 
'till  after  its  primary  ufes  were  probably  forgotten.  But  that  fome  of  them  were  in  after-times 
applied  to  fuch  purpofes,  is  fufficiently  evident  from  the  human  bones  found  under  one  In  Jrelardy 
and  from  the  cairns  and  barrows,  or  burrows,  under  fome  in  Qorrzvall  and  elfewhere:  After  which, 
we  may  grant  that  as  places  of  burial  tliey  might  become  "  fcenes  of  the  parcstaliciy  or  where  divine 
honours  were  paid,  and  facrifices  perform'd  to  the  manes  of  tlie  dead;'"  but  %ve  mufl  agree  with 
the  Dodlor  in  obferving,  that  "  thefe  rites  muft  have  been  tranfadled  at  fome  diftance  from  the 

Crcir!  V,  w  .icb  (as  has  been  evidently  proved)    could  never  ferve  for  facrifices," Toiahd's 

fpecimen  of  a  propofed  Hirtory  of  the  Druids,  in  three  letters  to  Lord  Vi'count  M(ilef-zvsrth,{i) 
contains  many  things  relative  to  the  remains  of  ancient  Celtic  and  Droidical  monamert«,  well  woilh 
notice,  and  on  which,  fome  of  his  conjeflures  feem  net  improbable :  But  his  chief  aim  in  this 
epitome  of  the  hiftory  he  promifed  to  give  more  at  large,  oi  the  Druldt,  or  of  their  pricj9craft  as 
he  thinks  it  might  m«3ft  properly  be  ftyled  (fee  his  firlt  letter,  p.  8  and  9)  being  to  parallelize  it 
with,  an-l  to  vilify  the  chrillian  priefthood,  which  he  appears  to  have  held  in  fuperlative  contempt; 
he  with  this  view  labours  to  warp  and  dillort  it  into  the  moft  frightful  form,  and  to  disfigure  and 
difguife  it  in  the  mort  odious  and  difguftful  drefs ;  catching  at  every  conjecture,  however  ground- 
lefs,  that  might  afford  him  the  leaft  handle  to  expofe  and  ridicule,  not  only  the  delufive  objects  . 
of  pagan  fuperftition,  but  whatever  iiad  been  at  any  time  defervedly  held  facred.  Dae  allowance 
ought  theieforc  to  be  given  for  his  prejudices,  whilft  we  avail  ourfelves  of  that  intelligence 
which  his  acquaintance  with  Ire/jvJ  and  its  ancient  language  (the  leaft  conupted  diale<ft  of  the  old 
Celtic  J,  and  the  many  reliques  of  Druidical  antiquity  there  to  be  met  with,  enabled  him  to  give  us. 
In  this  refpeift,  as  I  can  no  more  approve  of  his  antichriftianity  than  be  could  of  that  extreme  fuper- 
ftition  which  l\e  complains  of  (p.  112)  in  Mr.  Auirrey,  yet  acknowledging  him  anhonelt  man,  and 
moft  accurate  in  his  accounts  of  matters  of  fad  ;  fo  1  may  here  make  the  like  ufc  of  bis,  as  he  him- 

felf 

(1}  For  the  opportunUy  of  infpefting  this,— -and  a  LMn  tracl  on  the  fame  fubjtQ,  publifh'tl  in  1664,  ani  entitvikd  Syn- 
tagma de  Druidum  Moribus  ac  Inftiuitis ;  Auftore  T.  S.  (i.  e.  T.  Smith,  S  T.  P.) — as  weW  as  for  many  former  tavcun  of 
the  like  kind,  I  am  irdckted  to  the  kindnef;  and  fiicniJftiip  of  the  Rev.  William  Ho!e,  Archdeacon  of  Bavnfiaple,  in  the 
Diocefe  of  Exeter  ;  whofe  judgment  and  erudition,  which  no  lefs  enable  him  to  diflingujfh,  than  his  bei»e\olence  proapts 
him  to  communicate,  fuch  intelligence  as  the  Left  authors  can  afford,  for  the  cultivation  of  ufeful  literature,  give  iiitn  a 
higher  claim  than  the  private  thanks  only,  of  thofe  on  whom  fuch  favours  aic  beftowcd  ; — ^ind  v.hofe  obliging  condefcenfiorj 
to  furnifti,  frcra  his  curious  colicfiion,  whatever  traQj  might  conduce  to  thro\y  additional  lighten,  or  tend  to  the  improe- 
ment  of,  even  fuch  unintcreDing  lucubrations  a;  mine,  cannot  but  merit  my  mod  grateful  acknowledgments. — Onpeiufing 
(his  of  Dr.  Smith,  I  had  the  faiisfatlion  to  find  what  has  been  herein  before  obferv'd,  concerning  the  human  ficriEcesef  tha 
Druids  and  the  objects  of  their  worfhip,  more  fully  cor.firm'd  ;  not  only  fiom  tjie  authorities  already  cited,  but  alio  iioKi 
the  additional  tcftimoniesof  Diodoius  Siculus,  Tacitus,  Pliny,  Solinus,  &c.  which  need  not  here  be  enlarged  on.  But  lie 
letters  of  Toland  on  this  fubjeft,  affording  much  information  that  may  be  fubfcrvient  to  our  preftnt  pafpofe,  aiay  o«:ilfioa» 
jUy  require  larger  extracti  from,  and  remarks  on  them.     Chappie. 

Vol.  I.  La 


84 


HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 


felf  tells  us  he  did  of  the  numerous  inftances  of  Druidical  monuments  with  which  Aubrey  fupplled 
him.  "  The  fafts  he  knew  (fays  he),  not  the  refle<ftions  he  made,  "were  what  I  wanted  :"  So  the 
fadls  Mr.  T  land  knew,  or  has  on  good  authority  given  us  accounts  of,  relative  to  the  fnbjt(fi  in  Iiand, 
are  all  1  w.uitj  witliout  regarding  tliofe  fneers  at  priefls  and  their  facerdotal  fundions,  for  which 
he  ind  T(«<;j/ were  fo  notorious.(i)  Not  that  I  would  equal  his  authority  in  oikcr  refpedfs  to  that 
oi  -Aubrey  his  informant,  whofe  meaning  he  might  pofllbly  fometimts  milfake  or  mifrtprefent  j  and 
with  refpccT-  to  what  he  (TolarJ)  allerts  of  his  own  knowledge,  Dr.  Bcr/nfe  (in  his  preface,  p.  vi.) 
doubts,"  .vhether  ever  he  copied  or  meafured  one  monument;"  and  adds,  that  "  the  authorities 
upon  which  he  allerts  many  extraordinary  particulars,  have  never  yet  heen  prodiced:"  For  the 
Druidical  hiflory  at  large,  wherein  he  proniifed  to  produce  thofe  authorities,  if  ever  really  intended 
to  be  written  (as  the  editor  of  this  and  fome  other  trafls  of  his  in  1726  fuppofes  it  i-  as),  was  not 
fo  much  as  begun  before  his  death,  which  happened  in  March  172 1-2  (as  we  learn  from  the  fame 
editor) ;  and  this  is  another  reafon  for  quoting  him  with  caution.  However,  his  accounts  of  the 
places  in  Ireland,  &c.  where  Druidical  monuments  >ire  yet  to  be  feen,  and  of  what  kind  of  conflruc- 
tion  they  refpciflively  are,  doubtlefs  deferve  all  that  credit  which  is  due  to  any  man  of  common  pru- 
dence 5  who  would  be  cautious  of  giving  a  falfe  account  of  any  fuch  monuments,  when  he  could 
not  but  know  that  every-one  on  the  fpot  might  in  fuch  a  cafe  eafily  detedl  it.  In  this  fpecimen  of 
his  Druic'ical  hillory,  defcribiug  the  KJfiru-iuicn  (for  this  he  fays  is,  in  Br't(i/h  or  Weljh^  the  proper 
plural  of  A.'j/?-t'iic«,(2)  i.e.  a  rtone  che(l),  of  which  he  tells  us  many  are  to  be  feen  yet  entire  in 
Walei.)  &c.(3)  — he  aflert?  them  to  be  fo  many  Druid  Altars  ;  and  that  tho'  denominated  ftone 
cherts,  "  they  are  things  quite  different  from  thofe  real  l\one-chefts  or  coffins  (commonly  of  one 
block  and  the  lid)  that  are  in  many  places  found  under-gro\md."(4)  In  Ireland,  which  by  his 
account  feems  to  have  abounded  with  thcfe  fuppofed  altars,  the  vulgar  Irifh  call  them  Dermot  and 
Grania'i  bed,  from  a  ftory,  which  he  recites,  of  the  elopement  of  the  latter  from  her  hufband,  with 
one  Dermot  0  Dwvny ;  who  beii^g  every  where  purfued  were  faid  to  have  been  fecreted  in  thofe 
Kijllcu-iiacn.  One  of  thefe,  he  thinks,  was  originjlly  in  eveiy  circle  of  obelilks  or  flones  eredf,  tho' 
now  frequently  wanting;  as  he  obfervcs,  fuch  '*  altars  (for  fo  he  calls  them)  are  found  where  the 
circular  obellfks  are  rnortly  or  all  taken  away  for  other  ufes,  or  out  of  averfion  to  this  fuperftition,  or 
that  time  has  confumed  them."  Thefe  ftone  circles  he,  with  moft  other  writers,  takes  to  be  undoubt- 
edly Pruidlcal  temples,  but  difagrees  with  thofe  "  who  from  the  bones  which  are  often  found  near 
thofe  altars  and  circles  (tho'  feldom  within  tl>em)  will  needs  infer  that  they  were  burying-places  ;" 
forgetting  '■'■  whatCtefar,  P liry^Tucitus,  and  other  authors  write  of  the  human  facrifices  ofFer'd  by  the 
Druids  ;  and,  in  miffaking  the  alhes  found  in  tlie  earns,"  he  fays,  "  they  fhew  themfelves  ignorant 
of  thofe  feveral  anniverfary  fires  and  facntices"  for  which  he  had  before  fliewn  they  were  reard. 
But  of  thefe  and  the  ftone-circks,  more  hereafter;  let  us  now  return  to  this  author's  further  account 
of  the  Kifii  u-'Viic>j,  He  defcribes  them  as  ordinarily  confifting  "  of  four  Ikines  ;  three  being  hard 
flags,  or  large  tho'  thin  ftones  fet  up  edgewife,  two  making  the  fides,  and  a  fhorter  one  the  end, 
with  a  fourth  ftone  of  the  fame  kind  at  the  top  :  for  the  other  end  (adds  he)  was  commonly  left 
open,  and  the  altars  were  all  oblong.  Many  of  them  are  rot  entire. '(5)  But  in  the  next  page  he 
fays  many  of  them  are  io,  as  quoted  above;  tlio'  he  adds  here,  that,  "  befides  the  alterations  that 
men  have  caufed  in  ail  thefe  kinds  of  monuments,  time  itfelf  has  chang'd  'em  much  more."  But 
perhaps  he  here  afcribes  to  tiaie  and  weather  fome  of  thofe  feeming  irregularities  in  their  form, 
which  a  nicer  examination  and  more  accurate  meafures  of  their  feveral  parts  than  appear  to  have 
been  hitherto  taken,  might  potTibly  deinonftrate  to  be  really  regular,  and  confiftent  witii  their  origi- 
nal defign.  Not  but  that  fome  diminution  of  their  then  dimenfions  muft,  in  a  long  traft  of  time, 
refult  from  their  age  and  expofure  :  To  this  purpofe  To'and{())  quotes  Mr,  Brandy  who,  fpeaking  of 
the  obellfks  in  Orkney,  fays,  "  Many  of  them  appear  to  be  much  worn,  by  the  wafhing  of  the  wind 
and  rain  ;"  from  wlience  he  infers  they  are  of  long  ftanding  :  But  perhaps  he  alfo  mirtakes  their 
original  form,  and  might  think  fome  parts  worn  away  which  were  never  included  with  them,  nor 
Dtherwlfe  exifted  than  in  his  own  imagi:  aticn  :  Wherefore,  we  muft  not  without  due  allowance  for 
this,  admit  what  Tclar.d  himfelf  fubjoins,  viz.  that  "  'tis  naturally  impoffible,  but  that  in  the  courfe 
of  fo  many  ages,  feveral  ftones  muft  have  loft  their  figure"  (or  rather  fuffer'd  a  diminution  in  their 
magnitude;  for  their  Ihape  or  figure  might  probably  be  not  fo  much  alter'd  as  he  imagines;  their 
proportions  at  leaft  may  be  ftill  preferv'd,  tho'  fomewhat  reduced  in  their  fize),  "  their  angles  being 
expofi-d  to  all  weathers,  and  ro  care  taken  to  repair  any  dlforder,  nor  to  prevent  any  abufe  of 
them. "(7)  Hence  he  fuppofes  "  fome  of  them  are  become  lower,  or  jagged,  or  otherwife  irregular 
and  dimin;lhed ;"  but  I  fhould  rather  imagine  they  were  originally  fo,  and  that  their  fuppofed  irre- 
gularities were,  in  thefe,  as  we  ftiall  find  them  to  be  in  the  ilrufture  we  propofe  more  particularly 
to  examine,  not  the  effects  of  accident,  but  of  art  and  real  regularity  in  their  dcfign. — "  Many  (he 
adds)  are  quite  wafted"  by  which  perhaps  he  means  carried  off  or  demollfhed ;  "  and  mofs  or  fcurf 

hides 

(1)  See  Pope's  Dunciad,  B.  ii.  399. 

(2)  Tbefc  names,  he  tells  us,  with  a  fmall  variation,  arc  good  Irifh    (Hift.  of  the   Druids,  p.  95)  j   and  of  this,  being 
hiiiiiclf  an  Irilhaian,  and  the  ancient  IriOi  his  vernacular  tongue,  he  muil  he  allov.'d  to  be  a  compcleut  judge, 

(3)P-94.  (4)  P.  95.    '         (6)  P.  93-  (6)  Ibid.  {7)  P.  94- 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  85 

bides  the  infcriptlons  or  fculptures  of  others ;  for  fuch  fculptures  (he  fays)  there  are,  In  feveral. 
places,  particularly  in  Wala  and  the  3cottifli  Ifle  of  AranJ"^  He  had  before  (p.  92)  taken  notice  of 
chirafterb  and  infcriptlons  obfervd  on  Druidical  obelifks  in  Sccrlatid  and  Wales,  which,  except  the 
Roman  and  Cliriftian  infcri])tions,  were  unintelligible  to  fuch  as  had  hitherto  fecn  them  j  but  which 
as  he  juftly  obferves,  "  ought  to  have  been  fairly  reprefented  for  the  ufe  of  fuch  as  might  be  able 
perhaps  to  explain  them.  Tliey  would  at  leaft  exercife  our  antiquaries." — Bi-t  his  repeating  this 
here  in  his  account  of  the  Klfluu-'vatn,  feems  a  digrelTion  from  them  to  the  obelilks  j  tor  if  I  rightly 
underrtand  tiim,  he  mear^t  not  that  any  fuch  infcriptlons  had  been  obferv'd  en  the  former  5  con- 
cerning wliich,  perhaps  more  than  enough  has  been  cited  from  him  to  our  purpofc,  but  to  which  I 
was  induced  by  thefuppofed  fimilarity  of  thofe  Kijl'uu-i'afr.i  to  the  Crcn:!c\hs.  How  iar  they  were 
really  fimilar,  or  defign'd  for  fjmil.ir  purpofes,  can  only  be  determin'd  (as  before-hinted)  by  more 
accurate  examinations  of  their  dimenfions  and  proportions  than  appear  to  have  been  hitherto  taken. 
Men  while,  Dr.  Borlafe  is  not  alone  in  his  inference  from  their  likenefs,  that  they  were  intended 
for,  and  applied  to,  the  like  ufes,  whatever  they  were;  but  in  thefe,  authors  are  no'  yet  agreed.— 
For  Toliind  feems  alfo  to  take  a  Cromlech  to  be  only  a  larger  fort  oiKift-vaen,  tho'  he  defcribes  ii,(i) 
not  only  as  much  bigge:,  but  alfo  as  "  confifting  of  a  greater  number  of  fJones"  (which  I  much 
qiieftion  the  truth  of,  in  general,  tho  there  aie  fome  fe>\  inlfances  of  it), (2)  "  fome  of  them  ferv- 
ing  to  fupport  the  others,  by  reafon  cf  thei;  enormous  bulk."  Thefe  ftructures,  he  fays,  "  tlie 
Britons  term  Cromlech  in  tiie  Angular,  CiomlecLu  (ratl'.er  Cromhchiau)  in  the  plural  number;  and 
the  Irijk  Cromleach,  or  Cromlcac^''  (or,  as  others  fpell  it,  Cromliach)  v  ith  the  addition  of  the 
letter  a  to  make  it  plural  Thefe  Cr'.mUchu,  as' well  as  the  Kfi'uu-'va:n,  he  will  have  to  be  (not 
burying-places  but)  Altars  :  For,  as  he  takes  the  word  Crorr.lccch  to  fignify  the  Bowing-flone,  he 
thence  concludes  they  were  ail  places  of  worfhip ;  and  in  fliort  gives  much  the  fame  account  of 
Criiin-cruach  "  the  chiefefl  in  all  Irelajid,,^^ — which  he  takes  to  be  an  idol,  and  fays  it  was  overlaid 
with  gold  and  filver,  and  that  it  flood  in  the  midft  of  a  circle  of  12  obelifks  (which  had  lefler 
figures  on  them,  of  brafs  only)  on  a  hill  in  Brcfiv^  a  difli  icS  of  the  county  of  Cai-ar^  formerly  belonging 
to  ic.'ri»;;(5) — and  has  recourfe  to  the  like  corjeftures  concerning  its  original  defign^tion  and  fup- 
pofed  derivation  from  Crum,  fignifying  thunder,  as  Mr.  c  HaUoran  has  fince  adopted ;  whofe  feiiti- 

ments  having  been  already  animadverted  on,  need  not  be  here  repeated. Befides  the  Cromlech  at 

Poitiers,  mentioned  in  cur  note  (d),  this  author  tells  U5(4)  of  one  in  the  parifh  o{  Net-en;  in  Pcm- 
brohepire  "  where  the  middle  flone  is  ftill  18  feet  high,  and  9  broad  towards  the  bafe,  growing 
narrower  upwards.  1  here  lyes  by  it  a  piece  broken  off  10  feet  long,  which  feems  more  than  20 
oxen  can  draw;  and  therefore  (adds  he)  they  were  not  void  of  all  (kill  in  the  mechanics  that  could 
fet  up  the  v.hole." — He  mentions  alfo  "  a  noble  Cromlech  at  BA-ouyr  in  Ar.glcfcy ;"  and  adds  con- 
cerning Cromlechs  in  general,  "  Man)  of  them,  by  a  modeft  computation,  are  30  tun  weight;  but 
they  differ  in  bignefs,  as  all  pdlars  do"  (meaning  I  fuppole  the  fupporters  of  fuch  Cromlechs),  "  and 
their  altars"  (by  which  he  feems  here  to  mean  the  quoits  or  covering- flones  only)  "  are  ever  bigger 
than  the  ordinary  Kifticu-'vacn.  In  fome  places  of  Wales  thefe  flones  are  called  Mcincuguyr,  which 
is  of  the  fame  import  with  Crsmlcchti.  In  Caithr.cjs  and  other  remote  parts  of  Scotland,  thefe  Crcm- 
hacs  are  pretty  numerous,  fome  pretty  eiuire ;  and  others,  not  fo  much  confumed  by  time  or  thrown 
down  by  rtorms,  as  diforder'd  and  demolifh'd  by  the  hands  of  men. "(5)  He  goes  on  to  fhew,  that 
no  fuch  altars  were  ever  found  by  Olaus  Wom-.ius  cr  ethers  in  the  temples  of  the  Gothic  nations, 
by  which  he  means  all  thofe  "  who  fpeak  the  feveral  dialeds  of  Gothic  original,  from  Iceland  to 
Switzerland,  and  from  the  Bricl  in  Milliard  to  Brcjhurg  in  Hungary,  the  Bohemians  and  Polanden 
excepted."  1\\z  Druids,  he  f<iys,  were  only  co-extenr'.ed  with  the  Celtic  dialedls;  and  then  quotes 
Ccejar  as  faying  exprefsly  "  there  were  no  Druids  among  the  Germans,"  they  only  worshipping 
the  fun,  moon,  and  l^ulcan  or  fire,  which  they  conAantly  faw,  and  hy  which  they  were  manifeflly 
benefited;  rejedine  all  other  deities,  and  facrificing  to  nunc:  Which  of  cobrfe,  fays  our  author, 
"  made  altars  as  ufelefs  there  (tho'  afterwards  grown  fan-iionable)  as  he  thinks  they  were  neceffary 
in  the  Druids  temples,"  meaning  the  flore  circles;  and  that  t!.o  e  altars  (meaning  the  CVcre/cc/^j, 
&c.  and  taking  for  granted  that  they  were  defignd  as  fuch)  fhevv  them  "  more  than  probably  to  have 
been  temples  indeed;  '(6)  and  fo,  he  tells  us,  the  Highlanders  and  their  Iri/h  Progenitors  have 
al.vays  call  d  and  taken  them  to  he. — But  if  by  ahars  he  here  means  Crovd'-chs,  as  indeed  he  does, 
and  fuppofes  the.ii  every-where  druidical ;  and  if  his  alTertion,  that  no  fuch  were  ever  found  within 
the  limits  he  prefcribes,  be  found  falfe  in  f a<ft ;  this  renders  all  this  reafoning  inconclufive,  ard 
militates  againft  all  his  favourite  notions  relative  to  thefe  fuppofed  altars  and  temples.     And  th<it 

they 

(1)  P.  96.  {2)  That  Cromlechs  have  moft  comtnonl  y  no  more  than  three  fupporters,  has  been  before  obfer\'d  ;  but 

Come  have  four,  and  this  author  ;p.  97)  quotes  Chevreau  Memoires  d'Ang'eterre,  p.  380,  as  mer.ti-jr.ingore  reraainine  at 
Poitiers  in  France,  fupported  by  five  lelfcr  ftoyies  and  which  he  thinks)  exceeds  all  in  tlie  Britifh  iflands,  its  coveiing 
floi  c  being  60  feet  in  circumference  :  La  pierre  levee  de  Poitiers  a  foixante  pieds  de  tour,  &  eltc  tH  pol'ee  fur  cinq  autres 
picrres. — But  our  author  fancies  this  was  a  rocking-flone,  tho'  what  induced  him  to  that  conjecture  he  doth  not  fay.  Poflibly 
there  may  be  Cromlechs  in  Britain  as  large  as  that  at  Poitiers,  tho'  unknown  to  him.  Ours  at  Drews  Teignton  indeed  wants 
fomewhat  more  than  one  third  of  the  fame  circumference,  fuppofing  the  above  meafure  of  it  "meant  in  French  feet ;  for  60 
Paris  feet  are  nearly  equal  to  64  feet  Englilh. 

(3)  P.  joo.  (4)  P.  97.  (5)  P.  98.  (6)  P-oo. 


56  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

apparatus  of  an  allrononiical  obfervaton*.  (a)  So  numerous  were  the  fcientifk  pro- 
perties which  he  al'cribed  to  the  Drewlteignton  Cromlech,  that  he  could  have  written 

(as 

«f)«y  are  realty  thus  founded  oil  a  niirtaken  negstion  of  a  known  fa£i,  may  be  coFkflcd  from  the 
teftimony  of  M.  MalUt  and  others,  who,  as  btfore  quoted  in  pa^  64,  alTure  us  fuch  monuments 
are  now  to  be  found  in  Gern^ny,  as  well  as  in  other  countries  and  places  there  mention" d :  And 
rtien,  if  Cifjar's  evidence  be  alfo  admitted,  tliat  there  were  no  Druids  among  the  Gurmars,  and  that 
the  Germans  offer'd  no  facrifices,  and  confequently  had  no  altars  till  th«  Romars  introduced  theirs; 
It  folJows,  that  thofe  more  ancient  monuments  there,  wiiether  Cromlechs  or  Klfi-iaensy  could  not 
have  been  intended  for  altars,  but  for  fome  other,  and  pofTibly  very  different,  purpofes  :  Nor  could 
ihey  be  the  works  of  rhe  Druids,  but  of  a  people  within  that  Gothic  pale  which  this  author  has  here 
mark'd  out.  And  hence  it  alfo  follows,  that  thofe  Ce'.tic  monuments,  as  we  harve  already  ob^er^''d 
from  B^rlafe  in  the  above-mention'd  page  64,  were  not  peculiar  to  the  Druids;  tho'  curs  in  the 
Britifiy  iflands,  which  only  were  meant  in  what  we  faid  of  them  p.  112,  muft  be  admitted  to  be,  as 
there  obfervd,  undeniably  druidical :  But  fome  monuments  of  this  kind  having  been  ereded  by 
the  ancient  Gemay.s,  who  differed  fo  eirentially  from  the  D'ulds  in  their  religious  cuftoms,  as  to 
rejeift  all  altars  and  fjcrificcs,  we  might  hence  ahb  conclude,  had  we  no  other  proofs,  tliat  thofe 

monuments  vi-ere  not  originally  def  gn'd  for  religious  purpofes. We  have  now  only  to  add  to 

thele  extraiCts  from,  and  remarks  en  the  fentiments  of  TcLmd,  that  he,  inter  alia,  (i)takes  notice  of 
the  many  altars  (as  he  calls  them)  and  Cromlechs  in  Jcrjey,  as  well  as  in  the  other  neighbouring 
iflands,  formerly  part  of  the  Duchy  of  Nonrandy,  where  we  have  already  obferved  tliey  are  call'd 
¥cuqueleys;  and  quotes  p.  1 15  of  Dr.  Falle's  account  of  'Jerfey,  who  there  fays,  "  They  are  great 
flat  rtones  of  vaft  bignefs  and  weight ;  fome  oval,  fome  quadrangular,  raifed  3  or  4  foot  from  the 
ground,  and  fupported  by  others  cf  a  lefs  fize;"  and  thinks  them  evidently  altars,  "  both  from  their 
figure,  and  great  quantities  of  afhes  found  in  the  a;round  thereabouts."  He  moreover  infejs,  from 
their  ftanding  on  eminences  near  the  lea,  that  they  might  be  "  dedicated  to  the  divinities  of  the 
ocean."  This  To!ard  difpures.  and  thinks  "•  the  culture  of  the  inland  parts  is  the  reafon  why  few 
of  them  are  left,  befides  thofe  on  the  barren  rocks  and  hills  on  the  fea-fide :"  But  perhaps  better 
rrafons  might  be  given  for  this  their  fituation,  than  either  he  or  the  Dodor  were  aware  of. —  Dr. 
Falie  adds,  "At  ten  or  twelve  feet  diflance  there  is  a  fmaller  ftone  fet  up  an  end,  in  manner  of  a  defk ; 
where  "tjs  fuppofed  the  piieft  kneeld,  and  perform'd  fome  ceremonies,  while  the  facriiice  was 
bcrning  on  the  altar:"  But  the  eredion  of  fuch  a  rtone,  and  at  fuch  a  diftance  from  the  Croml:ch^ 
n.ight  be  accounted  for,  without  fuppcfing  them  defign'd  for  facerdctal  devotions."  Chappies 
Befciiption,  p.  109  to  137. 

{a)  "  This  Cromlech  of  Drews  Teignton  was  firit  i-ecommended  to  my  notice  bya  worthy 
and  judicious  lady,  who  to  her  other  amiable  accomplilhments  has  added  a  general  knowledge  of  the 
aiitiquities  of  her  country  ;  and  tho'  that  moderty  which  always  accottipanies  real  merit,  and  is  of 
itfelf  a  filent  teftimony  of  it,  with-holds  the  additional  honour  this  page  might  receive  from  her 
name,  yet  gratitude  no  lefs  forbids  me  here  to  pafs  over,  unackr.o\vledg'd,  tlie  helps  to  facilitate  ano- 
ther undertaking,  which  I  owe  to  the  beneficence  of  the  fame  patronefs,  by  her  procurement  of 
of  divers  valuable  manufcript  copies  of  Rljdcns  and  Jfcftcor's  furveys,  moftly  tranfcribed  by  Mr. 
Fr  nee  (author  of  the  Worthies  of  Devon)  with  his  own  hand,  and  all  under  his  diredion  ;  and 
were  lately  in  the  pofTeffion  of  the  Rev.  ^Ir.  Anthony  Trr^f.— Ignorant  of  any  monument  of  the 
Crcw/ciri-kind  in  De^'onfoire,  till  thus  pointed  o\]t  to  me  by  my  fair  informant  as  well  deferving  the 
attention  of  the  curious,  it  might  otherwife  have  efcaped  that  examination,  ^^■hereof  I  am  now  to 
gJTe  the  refiilt :  But  I  afterwards  obfervd  it  to  be  noticed  as  fuch  in  Mr.  Dcrr.'s  map  of  this  county ; 
whofe  engraver  however,  has  there  given  it  the  form  of  a  Greek  fl,  as  if  it  had  been  a  Druidical 
jpllows  for  the  execution  of  criminals. (?) — Being  thus  excited  to  a  view  of  this  Crcmlecb,  and  dcfi- 
rous  of  afcertaining  its  real  form,  fome  bufinefs  in  that  neighbourhood  foon  after  gave  me  an  oppor- 
ttinity  of  feeing,  and  taking  a  rough  (ketch  of  it  5  but  being  tlien  ftraiten'd  in  time,  and  having  no 
other  inrtrument  with  me  but  a  pocket  rule,  I  contented  myfelf  with  only  taking  the  length  and 
breadth  of  its  covering  (Yone,  and  fuch  other  dimenficns  as  might  limit  the  angles,  and  enable  me 
to  plan  the  eround  it  cover'd,  and  the  pofuion  of  its  three  fupporters ;  in  which  all  I  then  obferv'd 
re  riarkable  (befides  the  inequality  of  their  heights,  by  which  the  covering-ftone  has  fuch  an  incli- 
nation as  we  have  elfewhere  t;.ken  notice  of)  was,  as  mention'd  in  the  preface  to  this  tradl,  that 

their 

(i)  Ibid-  (1^  This  is  not  meant  as  a  rcEcflion  on  my  friend  Mr.  Donn  himfelfi  who,  fuppofing  it  were  indeed  fo 

mark  'J  by  him  in  th<  engraver's  copy,  might  in  the  courfe  of  his  furvey  only  have  a  fight  of  it  from  fome  diftant  point  of 
view;  where  the  middle  fulcrum  happening  to  be  in  a  line  with  one  of  the  others,  was  hidden  by  it,  and  fo  only  two 
l;ch  mirk'd  in  his  fitld-book.  But  more  -probably  this  was  one  among  many  errors  of  the  cr.gravcr,  left  uncorrec\ed  in  the 
fooi  f.'iTef-  of  the  plate-. ;  which  Mr.  Dcnn,  to  my  knowledge,  fcnt  to  his  friends  in  divers  parts  of  the  county,  dcfiring 
their  e;<sm(nation  of  them,  and  correftionof  any  miftakes  they  might  obferve  in  them:  but  this  being  overlook 'd,  among 
other  tninutii,  by  fuch  examiners  of  the  plate  it  was  in,  (and  which  I  alfo  faw,  but  had  net  then  fi.cn  the  Cromlech,)  'tis 
no  wcnder,  confideri.-f  alfo  tiie  Oiort  time  to  which  he  i-:  faid  to  have  been  limited  for  its  publicatiooi  that  fo  laiciite  i. 
f.goj«  is  the  crowd  sf  »therj  efcaped  hij  correOion,     Cbappl*. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  $7 

their  three  edges  were,  at  the  Airface  of  the  ground,  ii»  a  right  litie  with  each  others  fwm 
whence  I  then  indeed  concluded  there  mt^htbe  fomewhat  more  of  geometrical  exa^tiefs  in  itscon- 
ifruflion  than  was  generally  imagined ;  but  had  jio  idea  of  what  now  appears  to  have  been  the 
occafion  of  its  eredtion,  nor  any  the  lead  doubt  hut  that  thh,  and  all  other  fuch  DruidicaJ  monu- 
ments were  fome  way  or  other  fubfervient  to  religious  purpofes ;  and  perhaps  fome  of  them  nrioreover 
defign'd  for  the  fepulture  of  the  dead,  which  among  the  Drxiids  as  v  ell  as  other  worOiippers  of  the 
Pagan  daitiei,  was  always  accompanied  with  fome  religious  rites,  fometimes  with  facrifices,  and 
other  ceremonies,  more  or  Jefs  folemn,  as  cuftom  and  the  honour  and  dignity  of  the  deceafed  de- 
manded. For  the  burial  of  the  dead,  was,  by  all  nations,  anciently  efteemed  one  of  the  principal 
duties  of  religion  ;  which,  according  to  the  accounts  tranfmitted  to  us  by  all  hirtorians,  was  denied 

neither  to  friends  nor  enemies-(i) It  has  been  before  obferved,  that  the  covering  or  table-ftone 

of  this,  is,  like  thofe  of  moft  other  Cromlichs,  not  truly  horizontal,  but,  from  the  inequality  of  the 
heights  of  its  fupporters,  appears  as  it  were  bent  or  bowed  down  at  one  end  :  but  towards  what 
point  of  the  compafs  I  had  not  obferv'd  when  1  took  the  rough  plan  abovemention'd,  having  thai 
neither  fun-(hine  nor  compafs  by  which  to  afcertain  its  bearings  or  pofition  with  refpeft  to  the 
cardinal  points  or  othenvife.  Afterwards,  confidering  with  what  views  this  its  deviation  from  the 
horizontal  level  might  pofiibly  be  defign'd,  if  It  were  not  whcUy  accidental;  and  recollecfling  that 
Cafar  and  other  ancient  writers  had  alTured  us  that  the  Druids  in  Britain  and  Gaul,  aiTK>ng  other 
pagan  deities,  next  to  Mercury  who  was  by  them  thought  to  claim  their  highefl  honours,  had  a 
particular  veneration  for  AfoHo  or  the  Sun  ;  I  imagin'd,  that  if  the  part  fo  deprefs'd  were  meant  to 
betoken  any  fuch  veneration  for,  or  refpect  to,  that  luminary,  it  would  probably  be  direfted  towards 
that  part  of  the  horizon  where  he  rifes :  And  to  be  fatisfted  whether  this  were  the  cafe  here,  I 
determin'd  on  a  more  accurate  ftirvey  of  the  premifes  with  proper  inftruments,  by  which  being  alfo 
enabled  to  take  more  truly  the  fevertl  angles,  as  alfo  thofe  which  the  fides  would  refpedively  make 
either  witii  a  magnetical  or  a  true  meridian  line,  its  exadl  pofition  in  refpeft  thereto  would  thence 
be  truly  afcertain'd.  Accordingly  on  ti»e  20th  oX  Augi.Ji,  1777,  I  went  a  fecond  time  to  view  at>d 
more  ftridlly  examine  it,  taking  with  me  a  plaiti-table  for  its  more  exaft  admeafurement ;  this,  with 
its  needle  and  other  ufual  apparatus,  being  the  moft  proper  inftrument  for  fuch  a  purpofe-  But 
previous  to  this  fiirvey,  I  had  to  get  removed  a  large  quantity  of  dry  ferns  with  which  I  found  the 
whole  area  fill'd  up,  and  clofely  fluff 'd  in,  as  high  as  the  covering  or  uble-ftone  would  permit,  with 
an  intent  to  be  burnt  there  by  the  then  Shilfi.n  tenant,  and  their  alhes  to  be  ufed  as  manure  :  And 
ahho'  when  freed  from  thefe,  there  ftill  remain'd  in  the  midft  of  the  area  a  pretty  large  heap  of 
afhes,  the  produce  of  fome  fuch  former  facrifice  to  Ceres,  which  in  fome  refpe<f^s  obftrucSed  my  pro- 
pofed  meafirres, — preventing  my  then  taking  as  intended  (but  which  has  been  alfo  fince  dene)  tht 
receflary  dimenfions  for  connefling  the  upper  part  of  ^^ch  fulcrum  with  a  plan  of  the  under-furface 
of  the  table-ftone,  fo  as  to  afcertain  their  refpedive  deviations  from  perpendicularity,  and  maik 
their  bearing  places  ; — and  moreover  concealed  from  my  then  notice  fome  remarkable  ftones  fix'd 
into  the  ground,— yet  the  pofition  of  this  alh-heap  hindered  not  my  taking  the  very  true  and  exaA 
ich.nography  no:  only  of  the  table-ftone  itfelf,  but  alfo  of  the  bafes  of  its  fupporters,  and  what 
clfe  was  reqoifite  to  determine  the  area  or  ground-plot  cover'd  or  overftiadow'd  by  it,  and  at  what 
heights  refpeftively.  And  this  I  chofe  to  do  at  a  fcale  fo  large  as  would  diftinflly  (hew  any 
diftance  meafured,  within  lefs  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  at  moft.  This  being  done,  and  a  true 
meridian  deduc&d  from  the  magnetic,  by  allowing  the  fame  variation  of  the  needle  here  at  Sh'djiiit 
as  at  "xETER,  where  it  was  at  that  time  nearly  23°.  35'  weft,(2)  this  was  prefum'd  fufRciently 
near  he  truth;  It  being  not  likely  to  have  any  fenfjble  alteration  in  a  diftance  of  about  ten  miles 
only  :    Nor  does  any  error  of  this  fort  appear  on  re-examination;  for  tho'  it  then  happen'd  to  be  a 

cloudy 

(1)  Vitle  Danet  in  Funo,  and  the  authors  he  cites, 

{■i)  The  variation  (or  as  fometimes  called  the  decliEatlon)  or  deviation  of  the  iragnetic  needle  from  the  trae  north  point. 
is  now  well  known  to  be  itfelf  coritiiiually  varying,  both  v.iih  refpea  :u  tintc  and  place ;  being  different  in  different  placet 
at  ttje  fame  time,  and  at  different  tin;cs  in  the  fame  plai  c  :  And  the'  it  was  formerlv  eaftcrly,  the  needle  has  long  fince 
paired  the  noith,  and  in  this  part  of  the  world  no.v  declines  many  degrees  to  the  \vc;l  of  that  point.  At  Exeter,  on  the 
igtii  of  March  l^  17-18,  (O.  S.)  a  judiciou5  obferyer  found  jt  to  be  13°.  20'.  wefierly;  On  the  2oih  of  May  1762, 1  found 
it  by  obfervation  increafed  to  2 1  degrees ;  In  Nov.  1772  (as  noted  occafionally  at  that  time  in  another  work)  it  was  further 
increas'd  to  22°.  and  3  quarters:  On  the  20th  of  Auguft  1777  as  above,  it  was  eftimated  at  23®.  35';  and  18  months 
after  (viz.  in  Feb.  1779),  when  it  wa?  become  nearly  23°.  50".  wa^  found  by  an  azimuth  at  Shilfion  to  be  the  fame  there, 
or  very  nearly  fo:  And  now,  Aug.  17th  1779,  I  6nd  by  another  obfen,ation  of  it  at  Exeter,  caiefuUy  taken,  by  the  help 
of  an  exaS  meridian  line  and  a  weli-touch'd  nine-inch  needle,  placed  at  a  due  diftance  from  any  iron  liable  to  diflurb  it. 
that  it  wants  but  a  very  little  of  24  degrees ;  viz.  fuch  a  trifle  a?  was  but  barely  difcernible  with  fo  (hort  a  needle,  and 
could  not  appeal  lefs  by  above  one  1 2th  of  a  degree  at  moft,  had  it  been  more  nicely  meafur'd  on  a  larger  arch  ;  but  I  had 
no  opportunity  of  adjufting  it  by  one  of  a  longer  radius.  So  I  eftimate  the  prcfent  variation  here  at  E.xeter  to  L«  23".  55*, 
agreeable  to  the  uniform  incrcafe  refultin»  from  former  obieivations  her?,  where  it  feemstobe  continually  increafing  (per- 
haps more  legularly  than  is  geneially  fuppofed}  at  the  rate  of  10  minutes  and  about  20  feconds  annually,  or  1  degree  and  2 
minutes  in  6  years  :  And  fhould  it  continue  to  increafe  thus  regularly,  the  needle  at  and  near  Exeter,  may  te  expeQed  te 
point  direftly  weft  about  the  year  of  Chrift  2  164,  and  to  make  a  whole  revolution  in  and  about  2090  year^. — I  am  fentble 
iotf  much  this  difagrees  from  the  accounts  we  have  of  the  needles  variations  as  obferv'd  at  London;  not  only  in  refpeft  to. 


8S  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

cloudy  day,  and  confequendy  no  azimuth  of  the  fun  could  be  tlien  and  there  taken  to  adjuft  it,  it  has 
been  fince  confirmed  by  one  taken  on  t!ie  fpot,  which,  allowing  for  the  increafe  of  variation  in  the 
mean  time,  fhew'd  it  had  been  tberc,  when  the  plan  was  taken,  ithin  a  minute  or  two  of  the 
above-men  ion'd  variation;  or  differing  fo  little  from  it  as  to  make  no  difcernible  ditference  in  the 
geometrical  projection  at  the  fcale  above-mention'd.  A  meridian  line  being  thus  carefully  adjufted 
to  my  field-map,  this  immediately  evinc'd  the  futility  of  my  conjeftuie  before-mention'd  ;  for  in- 
flead  of  any  bending  down  on  ttie  table-llone  towards  the  rifnig  fun,  its  loweft  part  appeared  to 
he  feutb  ivefterlsi  and  fo  rather  refpefting  the  fitting  fun,  and  this  at  the  winter  f(  Iflice,  when  his 
light  and  heat  is  generally  the  le  ift  perceptible  (tho'  the  Di:i'hls  perhaps  might  deem  this  a  fit  feafon 
for  gathering  their  idolized  Mijlctoe,  when,  according  .o  Bradley,  its  berries  or  feeds  become  ripe 
for  propagation)."     Chappie's  Uefcription,  p.  151  to  i6o. 

"  From  all  my  obferN-ations,  it  is  evident  that  the  Drewrteignton  Cromlech  could  not  be  primarily 
Intended  either  as  a  rehgious  ftrudlure,  or  a  fepulchral  monuintnt,  but  was  partly  defigned  for  fcia- 

therical  purpofis,  and  in  general  as  the  apparatus  of  an  Astronomical  Observatory And 

of  this,  'tis  prefumed,  we  Ihall  be  enabled  to  prduce  fuch  proofs,  as  will  be  abundantly  fatisfaflory, 
not  only  to  proficients,  but  to  any  who  have  but  the  flighted  acquaintance  with  the  firll  rudiments 
of  geometry  and  aftronoTiy. — But  however  plain  this  may  be  on  a  candid  examination,  I  am  aware 
how  liable  the  moft  conclufive  arguments  are,  to  be  oppugned  by  the  fophiAry  of  wrangling  difpu- 
tants ;  and  how  obnoxious  the  molt  unexceptionable,  to  the  cenfure  of  fome  fceptical  cavillers, 
who,  inclined  to  doubt  of  every-thing,  refolve  to  approve  of  nothing :  whom  even  mathematical 
evidence  will  hardly  convince ;  and  who  profelTmg  that  Pyrrhonic  Philofophy  which  may  be  acquired 
without  learning  or  parts,  and  with  little  or  no  lludy,  atfeft  a  Socratical  negation  of  knowledge ; 
complaining  of  the  prevalence  of  error,  the  difguifes  of  truth,  the  imperfedlion  cf  arts,  and  the  vanity 
and  incertitude  of  the  fciences  ;  and  yet  perhaps  defpifmg  the  only  one  that  pretends  and  may  jurtly 
lay  claim  to  abfolute  certainty,  left  it  (hould  happen  to  ccnvift  them  of  the  abfurdity  of  having  fub- 
(titured  ignorance  and  fcepticifm  for  the  perfection  of  wifdom,  and  oblige  them  unwillingly  to  ac- 
knowledge, that  others  enliy;htened  by  its  lamp  may  fee  farther  and  more  clearly  than  themfelves. 
Suc!i  as  tliefe,  at  firft  view  of  a  geometrical  plan  fo  feemingly  complex  as  one  or  more  of  thofe  we 
are  here  to  exhibit,  may  enter  their  caveat  in  tiie  court  of  criticifm  againft  a  too  haity  determination 
in  this  matter  :  Their  bufinefs  being  ever  to  demur,  never  to  decide,  we  muft  not  be  furprized  at  any 
weak  endeavours  to  fupport  their  plea  for  a  fufpenfion  of  judgment,  by  ftarting  imaginary  difficul- 
ties, and  by  the  impertinence  of  crofs  quertions  ?nd  nugatory  objeflions :  Reprefenting  all  attempts 
to  reduce  this  rude  monument  of  antiquity  to  regular  form  and  geometrical  exadfnefs,  as  the  mere 
etfefts  of  fancy;  and  alledging,  that  any  other  irregular  production  of  bungling  artifice,  or  even  the 
fpontaneous  difpofition  of  natural  rocks,  which,  freed  from  their  intcrftitial  and  furrcunding 
earth,  had  been  left  there  in  the  form  of  fuch  aBro!>d:>!gmg  tripod  as  this,  might  by  the  like  adjuft- 
ment  of  lines,  angles,  and  circles  to  it,  be  exhibited  as  a  fpecimen  of  antient  ingenuity  and  fkilful 
contrivance ;  tho'  it  were  in  reality,  either  the  mere  fortuitous  etfedl  of  chance,  or  the  chmify  v  ork- 
manfhip  of  fome  bungling  fabricator. — Others,  who  may  readily  grant  this  piece  of  ftone-work  to 
be  artfully  conftruded,  and  well  adapted  to  its  intended  ufes,  whatever  they  were,  may  however, 
at  firft  view  of  our  plan,  be  apt  to  fufpedt,  that  all  this  geometrical  parade  is  wrefted  and  forced 
into  regularity,  to  fuppoit  a  favourite  notion  or  preconceiv'd  hypothefis ;  fince  we  want  not  inftances 
of  ingenious  trifiers  and  fanciful  projectors,  who,  by  the  aid  of  a  pregnant  imagination  and  ready 
invention,  will  undertake  to  make  anything  out  of  anything ;  like  the  ale-hcufe  cook,  who  being 
requljed  to  drefs  the  boots  of  an  itinerant  quack,  hy  order  of  his  zany,  and  having,  by  flicing  and 
mincing  them  Jecu:idum  artem,  with  proper  additions  for  feafoning  and  fauce,  transform'd  them  to  a 
French  fricaffie,  ferv'd  them  up  as  a  delicate  dilh  for  his  DoCtorfhip  s  fupper.  Nay,  fome  venture 
yet  farther,  and  alfumirg  to  themfelves  a  creative  power,  boldly  undertake  to  rival  Omnipotence, 
by  a  practical  refutation  of  the  old  maxim,  Ex  rMik  r.ihil  Jit ;  pretending,  in  virtue  of  a  magic  pro- 

cefs  peculiar  to  themfelves,  to  deduce  anything  from  nothing. There  is,  it  muft  be  conftfs'd,  a 

kind  of  antiquarian  knight-errantry,  which  amufes  Itftlf  with  its  own  dreams.  Thefe,  ftrongJy 
imprelBng  a  prejudiced  mind,  the  dreamer  at  length  perfuades  himfelf  muft  be  fomewhat  mere  than 
the  fports  of  fancy  ;  indulges  the  infatuation;  catches  at  every  fliadow  of  an  argument  to  confirm 
himfelf  in  it;  confidering  the  phantom  he  has  rais'd,  in  every  point  of  view;  and  then  introduces 
others  to  fupport  it,  and  convince  himfelf  of  its  reality.  Thus  fafcinated  with  the  charms  of  ima- 
ginary objects,  no  wonder  if  he  miftakes,  like  Don  ^ixctte,  a  v/indmill  for  a  giant ;  a  barber's  bafon 

for 

iU  annual  prngtcfs  to  the  •.vcflward,  hut  alfo  as  to  the  regularity  of  gradual  increafe.  This  is  evident  from  comparing  the 
fucccffuc  obfervalions  of  Mclfrs.  Burrows,  Guntcr,  Gellibr.ind.  P.ond,  Dr.  Halley,  Mr  Graham,  Dr.  Bcvis  and  others.  They 
fcem  to  have  thought  the  variation  to  have  incrca\'d  or  decreasM  more  flowly  ;  and  fo  contented  themfclrcs  with  regilfring 
the  years  of  their  obfervations,  without  mentioning  at  what  time  in  each  ;  whereas  in  order  to  determine  accurately  the 
law  of  fui  h  incicafe  or  d^cieafc,  and  whether  accelerated  or  retarded,  the  month  at  leaft,  if  not  the  day  of  obfcrvation, 
ought  alfo  to  be  known,  and  (hould  be  duly  rcgiftcr'd  for  tliC  information  of  future  obferxcrs.  However,  enough  appeals 
from  their  dates  to  e\ iuce,  thit  the  variation  at  London  has  not  varied  uniformly  ;  nor  (if  the  accounts  we  have  of  it  may 
be  relied  on)  dcih  it  fccm  to  have  al-.»-av5  diffcr'd  from  that  at  Exeter  by  any  ccruin  or  conflaci  quantitjr ;  tho'  that  dificrence 
£as  genera^y  been  from  s'.  48  or  5«'.  t«  x°.  5  j'.     Chaptile. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  89 

for  the  morion  or  defenfive  flcull-cap  of  a  Roman  foot-foldier ;  an  Irip  bawn,  for  the  qucvdam  affem- 
bly-room  of  Druldical  bards;  or  a  ponderous  old  rat-trap,  for  the  model  of  an  ancient  Catafiiltj.—— 
Pofitive  in  his  adopted  opinions,  and  confident  in  his  o  vn  conjeftures,  a  vifiona.y  of  this  fort  ftarts 
not  at  common  ditficulties.  Self-futRciency  fupplies  what  ignorance  denies  ;  and  a  fanciful  prefump- 
tion,  or  happy  guefs,  compenfates  for  defic-iency  of  evidence.  lo  perfons  thus  qualified,  the  frag- 
ments of  unintelligible  infcriptions,  obliterated  manufcripts,  Corroded  coins,  mutilated  ilatues,  bro- 
ken columns,  &c.  &c.  are  eafily  explicable,  aw'^.  as  readily  explaind.  Hence  new  and  ftrange  dif- 
coveries  are  fometimes  fuggeiled,  or  abfurd  hypothefes  torni'd,  and  ';o  lefs  fliffly  maintain'd 
than  prematurely  adopted ;  however  repugnant  to  the  common  fenfc  and  receiv'd  notions  of  more 
fagaciou^  inquifitors.  relative  to  t!ie  laws,  arts,  policy,  religion  or  learning  of  the  ancients  :  And 
hence  we  are  now-and-then  amufed  with  new  models  of  their  architediire;  new  cod:;  of  their  laws; 
new  rituals  of  their  fuperrtitions  ,  new  keys  to  their  mythology,  or  new  flandards  for  regulating  their 
hiftory,  and  for  ftretciiing  or  curtailing  their  cnronology.  But  in  thefe,  a^  well  'S  in  matc^rs  of  lefs 
importance,  in  which  thefe  fantaftic  fchemiAsare  fometimes  no  lefs  afliduous,  when  fane  ,;nd  con- 
jefture  fupply  the  want  of  authentic  evidence,  no  wonder  if  their  imperfedl  conceptions  |,  :  ve  abor- 
tive, and  their  illogical  concluiions  from  fuch  difputable  premifes,  frequently  become  fr.bjeifls  of 
ridicule  and  contempt. (i)  Some  of  thofe  dreaming  'vlimofi,  for  inftrmce,  have  pretended  to  fix  the 
exact  chronology  of  a  fuppofed  antique  ihield,  among  other  of  its  properties,  by  the  colour  of  its 
ruft:(2)  Others  have  bufied  themfelves  in  bottling  up  air,  for  occafional  fupplies  of  it  in  sethecial 
voyages,  to  have  an  Infight  into  ///r.//-  antiquities,  and  a  profpeil  of  undifcover'd  countries  herej 
extending  their  boundlefs  curiofity  far  beyond  the  clouds,  and  thofe  grofs  vapors  which  here 
inflate  the  lungs  of  fublunary  mort.ils ;  impatient  of  confinement  to  their  own,  tlio'  moft  forcibly 
attraftive,  fphere;  and  no  longer  acquiefcing  in  that  humbler  (but  to  mechanicks  more  interefling) 
enquiry,  whether  the  artificial  fphere  oi  ylrchimedcs  were  wholly  conipofed  of  brafs,  zs  Laciantius 
fuppofes(3) ;  or  whether,  as  fuggefted  in  an  epigram  of  dauiiiani^.],  its  outfide  or  eafmg  at  leaft» 
were  not  rather  of  tranfparent  gl.ifs,  l.ke  that  of  a  m.odern  globe-lanthorn.(5) Such  are  the  reve- 
ries, not  only  of  fome  alfuniing  fmjttercrs  in  antiquity  and  pretended  rertOrers  of  ancient  arts,  but 
fometimes  even  of  more  learned  triflers  on  fuch  fubjeds :  And  as  fuch,  fome  may  be  dlfpofed  to 
'ridicule  the  produdion  of  a  fhort-liglited  novice  in  fuch  refearches  as  the  prefent  fubje<ff  Ucmands, 
and  which  would  more  properly  exercife  the  fpeculations,  and  require  the  more  penetrating  infpec- 
tion  of  perfons  eminent  for  their  erudition,  long  converfant  in  the  woiks  of  the  ancients,  and  well 
acquainted  with  the  learning,  the  manners,  and  cufioms  of  different  ages  and  nations.  The  attempt 
of  any  other,  to  account  for  tlie  fabrication  of  fuch  a  relique  of  the  remoteft  antiquity  as  we  are 
now  examining;  and  efpeclally  to  difcover  an  internal  maik  by  which  to  judge  of  its  age,  ith  no 
lefs  certainty  than  a  huntfman  can  that  of  a  hart  by  his  antlers  and  croches ;  may  poffibly  be  deem'd 
a  prefumptuous  encroachment  on  their  prerogative,  and  not  eafily  efcape  the  like  fcouring  with  Dr. 

IFccdivard's  rubiginous  fhield. Eut  the  cock  in  the  fable,  having  chanced  to  find  a  jewel  where 

he  only  fought  a  barley-corn,  left  greater  connoifieurs  to  judge  of  its  worth,  and  avail  themfelves  of 
his  difcovery.  And  in  like  manner  the  prefent  and,  "tis  prefuni'd,  firil  difcoverer  (for  fuch  he  lakes 
himfell  to  be)  of  the  real  defign  and  geometrical  conftru<f\ion  of  the  Cromlech  in  queftion,  chear- 
fuUy  fubmits  bis  to  their  better  judgment,  and  to  their  candid  corredion  of  his  overfights  and  mif- 

takes, 

(1)  The  reader  who  adverts  to  v.hat  has  been  infcrted  from  Dr.  Borl.ife,  will  not  mifimJcriland  anything  here  faid,  as 
meant  to  cenfure  or  ridicule  the  laudable  refearches,  or  acute  fagarity  of  ical  aniiquarics,  or  their  having  recourfe  to  pro- 
bable conjectures  where  certainty  cannot  be  obtaiu'd ;  dice  fuch  conjefturcs  frcqucnJy  lead  to  more  certain  truths :  But 
granting  they  may  be  fometimes  too  far  indLlg'd,  or  even  conduce  to  multiply  errors  j  yet  fuch  abufes  of  any  branch  of 
fcience,  furnilh  no  good  argument  againft  its  general  utility  ;  nor  is  any  thing  like  this,  here  intended.  I  have  been  fpeak- 
ing  the  language  of  an  objector,  and  cndcavour'd  to  ftate  in  its  full  force  every  forefcen  objeclion  to  the  account  I  am  now 
to  give  of  the  Drew's  Teignton  Cromlech  'againft  which  account,  even  whilft  in  embryo,  fome  fuch  have  been  already, 
however  prematurely,  flarted; ;  and  before  1  proceed  to  exculpate  myl'elf  from  any  charge  of  prejudice,  or  bigotry  to  the 
dictates  of  fancy  or  fiction,  have  here  fairly  admitted  whatever  may  be  plaufibly  pleaded,  fiom  the  failings  of  others  in 
attempts  of  this  kind,  againft  any  hafty  conclufions  concerning  it ;  which  in  fhort,  only  amount  to  this :  vi^.  That  if  not 
only  pretended  connoifieurs  in  fuch  matters  have  had  Grange  dreams,  but  real  ones  have  fometimes  nodded,  and  both  perhaps 
merited  reproof  by  the  publication  of  \  ifionary  fchemes ;  much  more  mav  one,  who  has  no  pretenfions  to  the  abilities  or 
judgment  of  the  latter,  nor  to  the  prolific  imagination  of  the  former,  be  liable  to,  and  ought  therefore  to  be  cautious  of  in- 
curring the  like  cenfure. — Th.s  muft  be  readily  granted.  Bat  the  loweft  pedlar  "n  antiquity  may  chance  to  ftrike  out  lights, 
conducive  to  detect  the  miftakcs,  or  to  improve  the  difcernment  of  the  moft  learned;  And  we  (hculd  blame  the  timidity 
pf  that  pjSllanimous  farmer,  who  could  be  deterr'd  fiom  the  cultivation  and  tillage  of  his  own  littk  ftjot,  by  obferving  the 
luxuriant  crops  in  richer  ami  more  fertile  lands,  to  be  here  and  there  intermix'J  with  no  lefs  luxi!-iant  weeds ;  or  that  the 
barreiier  foil  of  others  was  more  produftive  of  poppies  than  corn.  The  direfiions  of  rcafon  and  prudence  in  fuch  cafes  would 
be,  '  Let  not  Both  or  diitruft  prevent  the  proper  culture  of  any  ;  and  let  the  weeders  have  their  due  fhare  of  employment 
in  all:  but  let  them  be  cautious  not  to  root  up  any  part  of  the  wheat,  together  with  the  tares  and  wild  poppies.'     Chappie 

(a)  See  Pope's  Memoirs  of  Scribleius.  (3)  Inftit.  1.  2,  c.  5, 

(4}  Jif''^'  '"  parvo  quum  cerneret  xthera  vitro, 

Rifit : 

J  (5)  See  fJuygets's  Cofaiothtoros ;  Wilkini's  Wor'.d  in  the  ^roon  ;  and  .'.is  Mathematical  Magick,  p-  164,  16^;. 

VOL.  I.  M 


90  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

(as  he  often  faid)  in  defcribing  them.(rt)  The  firft  thing  he  mentioned  was  a  moll:  exait 
meridian  Une,  made  by  the  coincidence  of  the  three  liipporters — that  is,  the  outfide  edge.i 
of  two,  luui  the  inlide  edge  of  the  third,  are  lo  truly  Hxed  on  the  meridiaa  as  could 
poilibly  be  done  by  the  moll  accurate  altronomer.  The  next  was  the  latitude  of  the 
place,  which  was  Ihewn  by  Ibme  part  of  the  Cromlech,  even  to  the  nearefl  niinntc  ;  as 
were  the  fim's  greatell  meridian  altitude  in  Ibmmer,  the  leail  ia  winter,  and  confequently 
the  obliquity  oVthc  ecliptic — which  laft  article  aftbrdedamoll  curious  circumftance;  for, 
by  allowin^^  the  known  diminution  of  the  obliquity,  he  found  that  upwards  cf  two  thou- 
fand  two  hundred  years  had  elapfed  lince  the  Cromlech  was  erecled.  After  deicriblng 
thefe,  and  many  other  allronomical  properties,  he  faid  he  had  lartly  difcovered,  that  the 
cover-llone  was  infcribable  in  an  eUipiis.  And  that  the  Cronilech  ferved  alfo  for  gnomo- 
nical  purpofes,  he  had  the  moll  politive  proof.  For  by  its  conllruflion,  he  found  that 
there  was  a  certain  point  under  the  Cromlech,  whence  reflections  Ihould  be  call;  and,  by 
removiii'y  the  earth  fiom  that  Ipot,  he  difcovered  a  curious  little  triangular  lloue,  which 
mull  have  been  placed  there  for  that  purpoie.  All  this  is  wonderful  indeed !  But  though  I 
have  the  higheft  opinion  of  Mr.  Chappie's  diligence  and  integrity,  yet  I  am  apt  to  believe 
that  his  curious  hypothefis,  which  might  fij-ll  be  iliggelled  by  ibme  fortuitous  polition  of 
the  ilones,  will  not  bear  the  tell  of  cool  and  imp:u-tial  examination.  Were  there  any  regu- 
lar planes  cut  on  the  lurface  of  thele  Hones,  ^^■e  migl\t  fuppoie  them  deligned  to  point  out 
ditierent  phenomena  of  the  fun  and  planets  :  but,  as  there  is  no  mark  of  a  tool  on  any 
of  them  (which,  indeed,  would  profane  them  in  the  opinion  of  a  Druid)  I  would  as  foon 
believe  that  the  earth  was  formed  by  a  concourfe  of  atoms,  as  that  four  rude  and  lliapelefs 
Ilones,  to  all  appearance  feieited  only  for  their  nuignitude,  fhouki  exhibit  an  exact  cor- 
relbondence  with  every  circle  in  the  heavens. (^) 

After 

takes,  if  any  \  tho'  he  mufl  expeifl  the  moft  ftridl  :inrf  critlcar  examinarlon  from  thcfe,  who,  difin- 
clined  to  approve  of  whatever  tends  to  depreciate  the  merit  of  their  own  difcoveries,  may  be  un\\;l- 
linp  to  recall  that  temporary  coin  which  originated  from  their  mint  \  and  which  having  liad  the  Itamp 
of  rvjblic  credit  and  approbation,  has  hitherto  pafs'd  current,  but  whole  deficiency  may  be  detcfted 
by  the  touchftone  here  ofFeied  for  its  trial. — For,  among  perfons  of  found  learning  and  acknowledgd 
ju-igment,  fome  who  have  been  generally  fuccefsful  in  their  endeavours  to  brighten  up  the  ohfcunty, 
and  rub  off  the  rufl:  of  antiquity,  have  yet  condefccnded  to  form  l^range  hypothefes,  to  account  for 
the  moft  difficult  fubjefts  that  have  puzzled  preceding  antiquaries ;  and  fortifying  them  witli  all  t!:e 
piiufibility  of  argument  and  elegance  of  language,  with  which  fuch  Ihaan  can  attraft  the  attention 
of  the  moft  difceming,  and  conceal  all  defe^5ts  and  abfurdities  from  the  fuperficial  infpedlor  (who 
charm'd  with  the  gilding,  examines  net  the  v/eight  or  fdidlty  of  the  apparently  rterling  gold)  fcru- 
ple  not  to  obtrude  their  vifioiiary  fyftems  on  the  pubiick,  as  infallible  regulators  of  hiflorjcal  truth. 
And  as  fuch  perhaps,  they  may  be  for  fome  time  accepted  ;  and  continue  in  vogue,  'till  fome  other 
invent.-  e  and  penetrating  genius  treads  the  like  fairy  mnze,  fubverts  the  enchanted  caflle  of  his 
predecelTor,  and  ereOs  another  of  his  own,  in  a  different  tafte  perhaps,  but  on  a  no  kfs  unflable 
foundation.  And  this  dccepuc  'vifus  at  length  vanifhes  in  its  turn,  when  poffibiy  fome  tranfient  fpec- 
tator,  or  curfory  reviewer  of  the  prernifcs,  may  happen  accidentally  to  flumhle  on  a  demonftrative 
proof  of  the  fallacy  of  all  their  plaufible  fchemes ;  throw  a  new  and  unexpefled  light  on  the  fubjed  j 
and  free  it  from  tiiofe  mifts  by  which  it  had  long  been  obfcured,  and  which  men  of  more  extenfive 

difcernment  had  in  vain  attempted  to  difpel. Partiality  in  favour  of  a  beloved  hypothefis  muft 

indeed  be  expe(f^ed,  as  unavoidable  in  him  or  them  who  firfV  promul^ed  or  adopted  it,  and  who 
cannot  be  inclinable  too  hafWy  to  abandon  their  own  offspring,  cr  fuch  as  they  have  taken  into  tlielr 
paternal  care  and  protection."     Chappies  Defcription,  p.  13S  to  15c. 

{a)  At  which  no  perfon  will  wonder,  who  has  ittn  the  innumerable  circles,  lines,  curves,  Sec.  on 
the  plates  defigned  for  his  Book. 

(b)  VN'ith  refpeft  to  the  Lanyon  Cromlech,  Mr.  Chappie  expreffes  a  wifh  "  that  it  were  reviewed 
and  re-examined  by  fome  judicious  perfon,  fuch  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hinb'tns  ofMarazi^n  (a  gentleman 
every  w.y  qualified  for  fuch  an  undertaking,  and  who,  if  I  miflake  not,  refides  within  a  very  few 
rr.'le-  or  Mademey  in  which  parifh  this  and  another  doml  ch  are  lituated) ;  and  that  he  would  tak^ 
the  Ttjuble  of  making  an  accurate  plan  of  it,  at  a  larger  fcale  than  that  in  Dr.  Boilajc's  book  ;  mea- 
fu-:ng  a'fo  the  exidl  iieight,  not  only  of  each  fupporter,  but  alfo  of  every  part  of  the  perimeter  of 
the  covering  or  table-flone ;  and  taking  fuch  other  dimenfions,  and  making  fuch  requifite  obferva- 
tions  thereon,  as  may  be  fuggefted  to  him  in  the  fubfequent  parts  of  this  trail.  Suuh  a  plan,  and 
the  obfeiva  ons  of  fuch  a  judge  in  geometrical  and  aflroiiomical  produdions,  with  the  inference; 
natcT.  Ily  deduclble  from  thence,  would  doubtlefs  be  acceptable  to  the  curious ;  and  we  inight  thereby 
be  er.ahleJ  to  afcertain  In  what  particulars  its  conHrudtion  differs  from  ours,  as  in  divers  refpt  I.^  .t 
certainly  docs ;  tho"  fmiilar  in  others,  and  both,  very  probably,  del3gn'd  for  the  like  purpofes."'  — 

Chippie 'tt 


The    BRITISH    period.  91 

After  all  Mr.  Chappie'?  curious  difquifitions,  I  cannot  but  concur  wiih  Dr.  Borlafe 
in  tliinking,  that  the  Cromlech  was  originally  defigned  for  a  fefulchral  nionument.     Its 

general 

Chappie's  Defcrlption,  p.  38,  39.  TV.is  Mr.  Hftcliins  has  done  :  And  he  Iiath  been  fo  oWiging  as  to 
favour  me  witli  his  fentimcnts  on  the  fiibje(fl(i)  :  "  Mr.  Ch.ipple  (fays  Mr.  Hitchins)  iliought  he 
had  made  a  wonderful  difcovery  of  various  agronomical  and  gnomonical  properties  in  the  Cromlech 
at  Drewfteignton,  and  he  was  about  to  publilh  a  defcription  of  it  with  plates,  &c.  1  know  not  whe- 
ther yon  delign  to  fay  much  on  that  fubjeft  in  your  Hiftory  or  not;  but  if  you  think  it  an  objeO: 
worthy  of  your  attention,  as  Mr.  Chappie  in  his  intended  publication  called  on  me  to  inform  the 
public,  whether  Lanyon -Cromlech,  near  Penzance,  had  the  fame  properties,  I  (hall  give  you  my 
fentiments  on  that  fubjeft.  I  have  attentively  examined  the  Cromlech  at  Lanyon,  the  moft  con- 
iiderable  one  in  Cornwall,  but  canno:  difcover  the  leaft  agronomical  or  gnomonical  ufe  to  which  it 
can  be  applied,  not  excepting  even  the  fimple  contrivance  of  a  meridian  line,  the  firft  property  Mr. 
Chappie  ohferved  in  his  Cromlech."  The  correfpondent,  from  whofe  letter  I  have  already  made 
extrads  relating  to  Chappies  Defcription,  has  an  eye  to  the  ufe  of  the  Cromlech  in  the  following 
remarks :  "  Mofes,  in  his  hiflory,  which  1  take  to  be  moft  faithful  (fince,  txclufive  of  divine  afTil}-- 
ance,  he  drew  his  information  from  the  Royal  College  of  ^Egyptian  Prlefls,  being  educated  as 
the  royal  offspring  were)  fpe-iking  of  the  deicendants  of  Noah,  mentions  Nimrod,  as  being  the 
lirft  that  began  to  be  great — that  is,  founded  a  great  kingdom,  and  who  delighted  in  war  and 
in  hunting :  He  fays  that  this  was  before  the  Affyrian  monarchy,  wliich  came  out  of  it,  and  that 
the  place,  at  firjl,  of  this  monarchy,  was  Bald:  and  It  was  probably  under  his  authority  that 
the  worflilp  of  Baal,  or  of  fire,  was  inrtituted  ;  which,  in  faft,  was  an  act  of  idolatry  like  that  of 
the  Roman  emperor's  fince  ■■,  for  it  was  a  dtification  of  hlmfelf — he  being  the  fon  of  Chus,  who  was 
the  fon  of  Ham  or  Cham,  whicli  llgnifying  heat  or  fire,  the  natural  emblem  of  this  was  the  fun — 
at  once  the  type  of  his  power  and  of  his  defient :  no  w/ander  therefore  that  they  inftituted  this  wor- 
(hip.  The  power  of  Babel  had  for  its  objedt  the  fame  worftiip,  and  fuit)ier,  the  counteraaing  of  the 
defigns  of  providence,  tiiat  they  m  ght  flee  to  it  Ln  cafe  of  a  fecond  deluge,  and  that  they  might 
never  be  difperfcd,  or  lofe  their  home  or  language.  They  were,  however,  difperfed  and  defeated  in 
their  piH-pofe  :  And  it  is  to  this  remarkable  event  that  the  paflage  probably  alludes,  which  fays,  that 
Cod  fpart-d  net  the  ai:g-li  of  God,  that  is,  the  holy  race  of  Noah,  which  could  not  but  be  reverenced 
by  their  defcendants  as  angels  or  gods,  on  account  of  their  fuppofed  divine  origin,  but  caji  them  cut. 
Tbewords  are,  aAAa  jzT^pracpa.c-£v  EatT«y — a  very  remarkable  expreffion,  which  occurs  but  that 
once,  and  is  generally  underftood  to  mtan  dtfpcrfcd  them\  which  words,  added  to  the  hirtcry  of  this 
empire,  makes  it  probable  that  N:mrcd  founded'his  kingdom  in  Tartary ;  which,  the  learned  admit, 
n  derived  from  Tatar,  which  f.gnifies  d'lffcrjion.  From  hence  this  monarch  and  defcendants  made 
the  moft  extenfive  conquefts,  the  memoiy  of  which  is  retained  in  the  ancient,  and  Aippofed  to  be 
fabulous  accoimts  of  the  conquefts  of  Bacchus,  which  indeed  was  a  proper  deity  to  name  and  to 
afcribe  it  to,  fince  Nlmrcd  was  ihe  defcendant  of  Cbu^.,  and  from  hence  his  kingdom  was  called  the 
kingdom  ct  the  Scythian  Tartar:.  ;  for  the  Scutli  and  the  Cuibi  are  the  fame  race.  The  original  dif- 
perfion,  the  confufion  of  languages,  and  probably  the  cruelty  of  his  conquefts,  fcattered  men  much 
further  than  this.  Some  probably  fled  to  Amcrua,  which,  it  is  now  well  known,  was  peopled  from 
Tartary  :  and  it  is  remarkable,  that  on  tlie  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  the  wor-^hip  of  Baal,  or  of  the 
Sun,  was  the  great  national  religion  of  the  people  of  CLufco  or  Csifco,  The  Runic  or  Scandinavian 
annals  alfo  agree  in  declaring,  that  they  were  driven  from'  the  caft  by  fome  great  calamity  :  and  the 
iamc  people  were  probably  fpread,  by  degrees,  to  tlve  more  weftem  parts  of  Europe.  Wherever  they 
went,  they  continued  their  original  love  of  war  and  hunting,  and  the  worship  of  llaal,  or  of  the  fun, 
or  of  fire,  and  of  the  hoU  cflcai-oi,  wliich,  it  isproboble,  they  made  alfo  their  more  particular  fludy. 
V/herever  they  went  to,  they  erefted  fire  towers  in  honour  of  Baal,  and  tl  ofe  other  moft  flupen- 
dous  ftrudures,  partly  that  they  miglit  for  ever  preferve  their  name  and  nation,  partly  that  they  might 
baflae  the  e.O^cGs  of  time,  and  perhaps,  as  they  hoped,  even  the  divine  vengeance ;  and  partly  that 
the  fohdlty  of  thefe  ftrudures,  and  the  almoll  inaccefl"ible  heights  and  failnclTes  where  they  were 
.  c:  efted,  might  preferve  them  from  the  fury  of  their  enemies,  and  always  aribid  tliem  a_retreat  where 
they  might  exercife  their  rites  in  fecurity.  Of  this  fpecies  of  (Iruflure,  I  am  of  opinion,  is  tliis 
Crorr.hcb  at  Drcivjiclgr.tcr. ;  I  mean  that  it  is  of  Cuti'ite,  or  as  it  was  called  by  the  Romans,  Druidkal 
origin,  which  has  been  the  name  adopted  ever  ftnce  for  them."  I  have  thus,  at  the  requeft  of  fevg- 
ral  of  my  fubfcribers,  permitted  Mr.  Chappie  to  accompany  me  in  the  notes,  tedious  and  defultory 
as  he  is.  To  proceed,  however,  any  further  with  Mr.  Chappie,  is  impsflible.  He  is  now  enter- 
ing, after  ail  the  dulnefs  cf  his  generalitUt,  into  a  particular  exan^ination  A  his  allro)iomical  inftru- 
meiit.  In  this  examination  he  refers  continually  to  his  plates.  Sever  .1  of  thefe  plates,  bowe\-er, 
are  loft.(2)     Yet  even  by  their  aflTiftance,  it  woujd  be  extremely  difficult  to  unravel  Mr.  Chappie's 

n'iean:ng. 

(i)   In  a  letter  dated  Sf.  Hilary,  gd  \ugiifl  1790.  •* 

(2)  Mr.  Chappie's  daughter,  Mrs.  Buckley,  of  Starcrofs,  has  one  or  two  of  :lie  plates.   The  others,  (he  fays,  v.<jrs  miflaid 
nor  docs  (lie  think  it  poCible  to  recover  them.  ' 

Vol.  I.  M  a 


92  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

general  figure  and  the  fize  of  its  area,  leem  to  fuggeft  this  idea.  Not  that  the  covering- 
uone  or  the  lupporters  were  intended  to  fecure  the  dead  from  violence.     They  are  but 

ill -calculated 

meaning.  His  Uvo  learned  friends,  Mr.  Hitchins  and  Mr.  Hugo,  have  both  repeatedly  aflured  me, 
that  they  could  never  follow  Mr.  Cliapple  through  the  maze  of  his  aflronomical  difcoveries,  ever, 
with  tlie  united  aid  of  the  written  defcription,  -^t'  the  plates  to  which  it  referred,  and  of  his  own  oral 
explanation.  "  The  plates  (Mr.  Hitchins  fays)  were  fo  extremely  complex,  that  if  they  were  now 
Ijcfore  us,  to  retrace  Mr.  Chappie  s  ideas,  would  be  inipraftlcable."  In  all  his  writings,  in  (hort, 
Mr.  Chappie  is  involved  :  and  often,  irx  the  moments  of  perplexity,  have  I  thus  addrefled  his  (hade  ; 

By  thc'i,  ve  dim  the  eyes  and  ftuff  the  head. 

With  all  fuch  reading  as  was  never  read  : 

By  tbe\  explain  a  thing  till  all  men  doubt  it, 

And  write  about  it,  Ckapple !  and  about  it : 

So  fpins  the  Silk-worm  fmall  its  {lender  ftore, 

And  labours  till  it  clouds  itfelf  all  o'er.(i) 
That  Mr.  Chappies  admirers,  however,  may  not  complain  of  my  having  fuppreft  any  part  of  his 
Cromlech  MSS.  I  fhall  here  prefent  them  with  the  i'reface  which  he  meant  to  prefix  to  the  curious 
treatife  in  queftion  :  "  This  traift  owes  Hs  prefent  publication  more  to  accident  than  to  any  premedi- 
tated defign  :  For,  although  fome  notice  of  the  Dr£we-teigntok  Cromlech  was  intended  in 
another  work,  and  to  that  end  I  had,  fome  years  nnce,  taken  a  tranfient  view  of  it,  and  fuch  of  its 
dimenfions  as  might  the  better  enable  me  to  give  fome  general  defciiption  of  it,  as  the  ox\\y  Druidkal 
monument  of  its  kind  in  this  county  5  my  then  intention  was,  to  refer  to  Dr.  Borlaje  and  others  for 
further  p.irtlcuiars  concerning  fuch  flrudures.  Indeed  J  then  obferved,  that  three  edges  of  its  fup- 
portets  were  ne.nrly  in  the  f.ime  right  line ;  and  therefore  fufpe<5ted  there  might  be  fomewhat  more  of 
geometrical  nicety  in  its  conArud^ion  than  its  rough  and  irregular  appearance  would  induce  an  incu- 
rious obferver  to  imagine  ;  but  had  not  the  leafV  idea  of  its  being  accommodated  to  the  purpofeg 
mentioned  in  t!ie  following  fheets,  or  to  .iny  other  of  a  fimilar  kind ;  taking  for  granted  this  appa- 
rently rude  monument  of  remote  antiquity  was  fome  ftruflure  fubfervient  to  the  Druidical  worftilp 
of  our  Britilh  anceftors,  and  facred  to  fome  or  other  of  the  pag.m  deities.  What  induced  ine  after- 
wards (viz.  mJluguJl  1-77)  to  take  a  more  exa£l  plan  of  it,  and  afctrtain  its  fituation  in  refpeft  to 
the  points  of  the  compafs,  will  be  noted  in  its  place,  and  need  not  be  enlarged  on,  here :  At  which 
time,  having  with  proper  inftruments,  carefully  obferved  and  adjufted  its  dimenfions,  bearings,  angles, 
and,  in  (hort,  every-thing  requillte  to  delineate  the  true  ichnography  of  it,  as  alfo  the  exaft  heights  of 
its  lupporters,  &c.  fome  avocations  to  other  affairs,  and  an  afHiding  family  event  which  happened 
foon  after,  obliged  me  todelift,  for  the  prefent,  from  any  minute  examination  of  its  properties:  So 
that  my  field-map,  and  other  papers  relative  to  it,  were  laid  hy,  uninfpe<£fed,  f .  r  a  whole  year;  till 
an  occafional  revifal  of  thofe  papers,  and  a  few  days  accidental  interruption  of  my  other  work  before- 
mentioned,  and  which  J  had  for  fome  time  refumed,  induced  me  to  review  and  examine  the  whole. 
This  led  me  gr.idually  to  the  difcovery  of  fome  properties  in  it,  which  left  no  room  to  doubt  of  the 
original  ufe  and  dcfign  of  this  antiquated  fal.-rlLk  \  and  tho'  the  feeming  irregularity  of  fome  of  its 
parts,  and  the  pofitlon  and  proportion  of  others,  in  fome  meafuie  tended  to  entangle  and  perplex 
the  fubjert,  yet  having  once  got  the  clue,  this,  with  the  unexpedtd  help  of  a  mafter-key  which  I 
chanced  to  meet  with  by  the  way  (I  mean  the  V.truiran  Ar.oUmma)^  facilitated  the  fearch  ;  all  diffi- 
cukies  vanifh'd,  and  I  was  foon  enabled  to  unravel  the  whole.  For  every  (tep  I  took,  open'd  unex- 
peffed  views,  all  tending  to  confirm  and  demonllrate  the  redtitude  of  the  former ;  and  every  calcu- 
lation, when  compared  with  the  aftual  meafures  of  the  Cromlech  itfelf,  bore  witnefs  to  the  accuracy 
of  its  plan,  and  the  boldnefs  and  elegancy  of  its  coi;.1rudtion.  My  firft  difcoveries  of  this  fort,  whilft 
yet  unaiTifted  by  this  key,  being  communicated  to  fome  refpedable  friends,  they  advifed  me  to 
purfue  my  enquiries  concerning  it;  as  being,  in  their  judgment,  from  what  had  hitherto  appeared 
on  the  fubjec>,  a  nev^.-  and  not  unimportant  difcovery  :  And  tho'  it  might  for  fome  little  time  inter- 
rupt my  progrefs  in  the  work  I  had  before  undertaken,  yet  inllead  of  referving  it  for  a  proper  place 
in  ibct,  perfuaded  me  not  to  delay  publllhing  the  refult  of  my  difquifitions  concerning  it,  as  a  feparate 

traft. 

(1)  Tl:e  following  letter  from  the  late  Lord  Courtenay  to  Mr.  Chappie,  plainly  intimates  his  Lorddiip's  apprchcnfions. 
I'lat  hi.,  flcward  would  not  eafily  diOipate  tliii  ck>ud  of  fcience. 

Cliapplci  Powderham  Caftle,  25th  January,    1779. 

I  this  afternoon  received  your  letter  with  your  further  renuiks  on  the  Cromlech.  I  faw  it  laft 
Saturday,  io  my  way  between  Ktrflake  and  Motcton,  entirely  fice  from  all  afhes  or  rubbifti  whatever.  I  could  not  avoid 
viewing  it  with  pleafure,  when  1  confidcrcd  that  the  ftrufture  was  a  means  of  affording  not  only  utility  to  thofe  who  railed 
it,  but  of  informing  us,  they  were  Icfs  ignorant  in  many  mathematical  obfervation.~  than  they  have  hitherto  received  credit 
for :  J  muft  <  onfeft  that  what  you  flicwtd  me  carries  with  it  hoth  truth  and  conviction  ;  I  only  hope  it  will  make  its  appear- 
ance  foon  and  very  foon,  being  convinced  that  you  will  gain  great  credit  fn  in  the  difcovery.  I  wifti  ycu  would  be  expedi- 
tiuus,  a^  I  itiu  rather  apntchCDfivc  your  fchemc  is  sot  fo  luuch  concealed  as  I  could  wifh. 

1  am,  &c.  COURTENAY. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  93 

iil -calculated  for  protefting  the  dead  from  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather,  or  any  other 
ijijury.    There  is  Ibmething  of  grandeur  in  the  conftruiSlion  of  the  Cromlech ;  which  was 

probably 

traft.  And  indeed,  it  foon  ajipear'd,  the  fubjedl  would  require  a  longer  diflertation  than  could  with 
any  propriety  be  inferted  in  any  review  of  the  county  at  large  :  and  I  the  more  readily  acquiefced  in 
its  more  immediate  fubmiflioii  to  public  inlpedlion,  as  having  a  full  aflurance  that,  as  it  carried  its 
own  evidence  with  it,  it -would,  like  other  truths,  appear  the  more  confpicuous,  the  more  ftridlly  it 
ftiould  be  fcrutinized".  A  fepaiate  tradl  being  thus  rcfolv'd  on,  it  became  requifite,  however,  to 
introduce  it  by  fome  few  particulars  relative  to  the  parijh  and  farm  in  which  the  CROMLECH  is 
fituated;  fince  their  names,  and  tr:ufe  of  their  fuppofed  poflelFors  in  former  ages,  at  leaft  fo  far 
claim'H  notice  as  obliquely  refiefting  foiiie  light  on  the  fubjecft :  But  no  more  of  thefe,  or  the  ety- 
mologies of  fuch  names,  are  here  enlarged  on,  than  appear  to  have  either  an  immediate,  or  at  leaft 
fome  remote  tendency  thereto;  tliis  principal  objeft  ot  my  enquiry  being  fljll  kept  in  view.  Thi's 
indeed  had  been  hitherto  much  clouded  in  obfcur'.ty  ;  but  the  accidental  fpark  now  ftruck  out,  J  ima- 
gined, might,  if  duly  improved,  conduce  to  its  further  lUuilration  ;  And  tho'  in  abler  hands  it  might 
doubtlefs  he  kindled  into  a  brighter  flame,  fnch  as  would  add  much  to  it^  brilliancy,  yet  it  feem'd  to 
invite  even  fuch  feeble  endeavours  as  mine,  to  make  the  bell  ufe  I  could  of  the  favourable  opportu- 
nity that  ofTered,  in  fome  meafure  to  difpel  tliat  gloom  which  had  more  or  lefs  bewilder'd  former 
enquirers.  This  invitation  I  could  not  well  refifl ;  and  having  fortunately  met  with  an  unerring 
guide  to  condudt  m.e  in  my  refearches,  and  open  a  way  to  a  clearer  view  of  the  objeft  before  me  I 
CO -Id  not  fliut  my  eyes  againft  that  Irrefiftible  light  that  pour'd  in  upon  me.  Such  accidental  difco- 
veries  have  little  or  no  claim  to  be  confider'd  as  meritorious:  If  any  thing  in  this  traft  can  have 
pretenfions  of  that  fort,  'tis  the  care  and  diligence  with  which  I  have  purfued  the  clue  thus  accident- 
ally acquired ;  which  has  coft  me  fome  time  and  trouble  indeed,  but  this  mixt  with  pleafure  and 
fatisfadiion  to  find,  among  tlie  innumerable  properties  more  or  Icfs  remarkable  that  fucceflively 
offer'd  themfelves  to  obfervation  in  this  feemingly  rough  but  really  well  executed  piece  of  ancient 
workmanfhip,  every  newly-difcovered  one  harmonioufly  concorded  with,  and  conduced  more  fully 
to  confirm  the  former,  and  the  confummate  ingenuity  of  the  artifts  who  contrived  it.  Of  this,  many 
remarkable  inftanccs  will  appear,  in  the  defcriptive  part  of  it,  in  the  following  (heets ;  to  which 
were  it  neceflary,  a  far  greater  number  might  be  added.  Purity  of  ftyle,  and  elegance  of  didtion 
muft  not  here  be  expedted  -.  nor  would  the  fubjeft  admit  of  it,  were  the  author  capable  of  fuper- 
adding  embelllfliments  of  that  kind.  Language  rough  and  unpolifli'd  as  the  Cromlech  itfelf,  may  be 
fuftic.ently  intelligible  in  a  defcriptlon  of  it,  provided  it  be  free  from  ambiguities  and  nonfenfical 
phrafes :  Thefe  I  have  endeavoured  to  avoid,  perha))s  fomttimes  by  too  much  circumlocution;  my 
aim  being  to  render  the  whole  as  plain  and  intelligible  as  I  could,  to  all  forts  of  readers,  even  to  thofe 
who  have  been  little  converfant  with  fuch  fubjedls.  The  mathematical  parts  indeed,  and  fome  ety- 
mological enquiries,  may  not  be  fo  well  relifh'd  or  underftcod  by  fome :  But  thefe  may  fee  enough 
to  fatisfy  them  in  general,  that  fuch  a  Cromltck  as  ours  is  a  work  of  art  and  ingenuity,  and  not  of 
chance  or- caprice,  as  fome  have  imagined  it  to  be.  Even  a  bare  infpeftion  of  the  plates  will  afford 
them  fome  evidence  of  the  contrary.  And,  for  the  fake  of  the  Engijh  reader,  nothing  is  here  cited 
in  arwther  language,  but  what  is  explained,  or  its  fubiiance  and  purport  inferted  in  plain  En^Hfb 
either  in  the  text  or  notes.  The  notes  here  and  there  interfperfed,  may  fer\-e  to  relieve  the  reader 
from  a  too  clofe  and  conftant  attention  to  fo  dry  a  fubjed  :  Some  of  them  indeed  neceffarily  relate 
to  it ;  and  the  reft,  tho'  digreflive,  yet  not  fo  wholly  unconnedled  with  it,  or  remote  from  it,  as  to 
lofe  figlit  of,  or  impede  a  feafonaMc  recurrency  to  it.  And  tho'  fucli  Cromlechs  as  ours  will  here 
appear  applicable  to,  and  were  doubtlefs  originally  delJgn'd  for,  fuch  ufes  as  feem  to  have  been 
hitherto  iinfufpefted,  at  leafl  by  any  writer  I  have  feen  on  the  fubje(5t ;  yet  no  fanciful  hypothefes  are 
here  obtruded  on  the  reader,  or  forcibly  wrefted  into  a  conformity  with  any  preconceived  opinion  of 
the  propofer  relative  to  the  Cromlech  in  general,  or  to  that  we  have  here  undertaken  to  defcribe  • 
lince  the  nature  of  its  conrtruftion,  and  the  purpofes  for  which  it  w.s  contrived  will,  it  is  prefumed 
fully  and  clearly  appear  from  its  own  internal  evidence,  and  on  due  examination  afford  fuch  full  and 
fatisfaftory  proofs  of  the  care  and  flcill  of  the  artilVs  by  whom  it  was  eredled,  and  how  nicely  accom- 
modated to  the  purpofes  for  which  it  was  intended,  as  to  preclude  all  cavils  and  difputes  concerning 
it;  except  perhaps  thofe,  who.  prejudiced  in  favour  of  fome  adopted  hypothcfis,  are  determined  to 
oppofe  all  evidence  inconfiften:  therewith.  Should  we  chance  to  meet  with  an  old  time-piece,  that 
on  diligent  infpedlion,  appear'd  to  have  every  part  fitted  for  the  indication  ot  hours  and  minutes,  and 
duly  proportionate  to  them,  tho'  the  woikmanlhip  were  antique,  and  perhaps  deemed  too  clumfy  to 
fuit  a  modern  tafte,  and  in  fome  refpedl  av.'kwardly  conftrudled; — or  find  fome  fragment  of  a  colleftion 
of  aftronomical  tables,  in  which  every  particular,  when  examin'd  by  ftrict  calculation,  appeared  truly 
to  adjnft  the  places  of  the  planets,  tho'  perhaps  its  title  and  fome  introdud>ory  pages  were  wanting  j 
furely  we  lliould  not  hefuate  to  conclude  them  originally  defign'd  for  thofe  purpofes  refpeftively  :  and 
would  be  apt  to  laugh  at  the  folly  of  that  man  who  ihould  pertinacioufly  infift,  that  the  one  was  no 
more  than  a  paltry  childit'h  play-thing,  and  the  other  a  mere  promifcuous  and  random  jumble  of  cha- 
racters and  figures,  to  amufe  and  deceive  the  ignorant,  and  anf^er  the  collufive  purpofes  of  a  pre- 
tended 


54  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    ok    DEVONSHIRE. 

jMTobably  meant  to  do  honor  to  the  deceafed.  And  the  fize  of  its  area  very  well  agrees 
with  the  dimenllons  of  the  human  body.  In  the  mean  time,  we  fhould  recoUeft  that  the 
Kiftvaen  is  but  a  Cromlech  in  miniature  :  and  the  Kiftvaen  is  a  fepulchral  cheft.  Befides, 
the  relics  of  the  interred  have  been  frequently  difcovered  in  the  area  of  the  Cromlech. 
But  the  Cromlech  vas  not  a  common  burying-place  :  It  was  the  lepulchre  of  a  chief 
Druid,  or  of  fome  prince,  the  favourite  of  the  Druid  order.  Kence  the  Cronilech  acquired 
a  peculiar  degree  of  holinefs:  And(rt)  facrifices  were  performed,  in  view  of  it,  to  the 
manes  ot  the  dead. 

From  the  ufual  fituation  of  the  Cromlech,  we  muft  doubtlefs  perceive,  that  it  is  no 
ordinary  monument  of  the  Druids.  At  Drewfteignton,  the  Cromlech  is  placed  on  an 
elevated  fpot — overlooking  a  lacred  way,  and  two  rows  of  pillars  that  mark  out  this  pro- 
celuonal  road  of  the  Druids,  and  feveral  columnar  circles  ;  whilft  at  the  end  of  the  down, 
there  are  rock-idols,  that  frown  with  more  than  iiitial  majefty.  Nor  are  the  Logan-ftones 
aiid  rock-bafons  of  Drewlteignton  and  Chagford,  at  any  confiderable  diftance.  Thus  we 
have,  even  now,  an  opportunity  of  lurveying  in  afiem.blage,  aimoft  all  the  monuments  of 
Druidi!;a,  near  the  "  {b)toi.v)i  of  the  Druids  upon  the  Tcign.''  And  this  Druidical  icenery 
icems  to  have  been  included  in  a  circuit  of  about  twenty  miles. 

From  thefe  obfervations  on  the  relics  of  Druidifm  in  Danmonium,  it  appears  tliat  we 
can  boail  no  Itructures  like  tlie  temple  of  Stonehenge ;  though  feveral,  indeed,  of  the 
monuments  before  us  are  marked  by  the  i'ame  ftyie  of  wild  magnificence.  Rude  gran- 
deur, not  graceful  elegance  ;  gigantic  mafilnefs,  not  beautiful  proportion  ;  was,  every- 
where, the  charafter  of  the  eaftern  architecture :  Ajid  fuch  traits  of  the  Afiatic  genius 
are  as  obvious  in  the  Cromlech  of  Dannionium,  as  in  thole  ruins,  w  ich 
Oft-times  amaze  the  wandering  traveller, 
Bv  the  pale  moon  difcern'd  on  Sarum's  plain,  {c) 
The  mod  perfeil  temple  of  the  Druids  hath  been  reprelented  by  fome  writers,  ai  a  deep 
recefs  in  the  centre  of  an  ancient  wood.  And  this  Druidical  wood  has  been  placed  on 
an  eminence. (<y)  Tacitus  delbribes  fuch  a  wood  as  tnclofed  by  a  fence  of  palliiadoes  : 
And,  fometimes,  the  whole  mountainous  wood  was  furrounded  at  the  bottom  by  a  val- 
hun.  The  Druids  had  certainly  no  covered  temples  :  But  Stonehenge  is  a  ftrikmg  fpe- 
cimen  of  a  Druidical  temple,  erecfed  on  a  reg^ular  plan.  And  nothing  is  more  probable, 
than  that  fuch  a  temple  once  exiiled  at  Drewlleignton.  Not  that  I  can  trace  at  this 
moment,  with  an  ingenious  correi'pondent,  "  the  ruins  of  a  very  great  temple  at  Stickle- 
path  near  Zesl-Monachorum,  not  far  from  Drewfteignton  ;  the  fragments  of  which  (he 
fays)  aie  fcattered  thro\igh  the  village  and  Over  the  fides  of  the  mountain  on  which  it  was 
probably  eredted."  The  lame  gentleman  declares,  that  "  the  Valley  of  Stones  is  filled 
with  the  ftupendous  ruins  of  fome  Cuthite  or  Druid  temple — where  there  was  a  knnghig- 
Jione  (fo  chara-fteriilic  of  thefe  llruclures)  till  the  wind  blowing  down  a  great  mafs  of  the 

ruins, 

tended  foitone-tellers  conjuring-book.  Yet  fome  fuch  bigots  to  their  own  crude  notions  may  be 
expefled :  And  it  were  in  vain  to  ufe  arguments  with  thofe,  who  will  never  acknowledge  thennfelves 
convinc'd  that  their  judgment  has  deceived  them.  Such  opinionlfts  are  befl  left,  like  madmen,  in 
quiet  polTeffion  of  their  own  wild  conceits  and  vifionary  fyflems.  But  having  carefully  fcrutinizcd 
every  inch  of  the  C'omlcch  in  queftion,  to  guard  againfi  all  mirtakes  concerning  it,  I  am  filly  per- 
fuaded  that  any  rational  and  unprejudiced  perfon,  who  wiU  take  the  pains  and  care  to  examine  the 
whole,  will  be  no  lefs  convinc'd  of  the  general  defign  of  this  ancient  ftruSure,  and  on  what  princi- 
ples it  was  evidently  conftrufted  :  Yet,  however  certain  of  thefe,  I  pretend  not  to  be  lefs  liable  than 
another  to  mi(\akes  in  the  applidaticn  of  thofe  principles  t9  fome  particular  parts  of  it :  But  whatever 
(lips  or  miftakes  may  have  efoaped  me  in  thefe  or  any  other  particulars,  being  not  defirous  of  deceiv- 
ing myfelf  or  others,  I  ihall  always  be  glad  to  fee  vt&'\f\ti  by  more  accurate  ohfervers ,  and  ready  to 
retra^  any  error,  which,  in  this  or  any  other  produftlon  of  mine,  may  be  fairly  detefted." 

{a)  Rowlands,  in  his  Mona  Ant'iijua  Rcllaurata  obferves,  that  as  our  firft  coloniils  were  probably 
r.-  nori  than  f-jcdifcenti  from  Ncnh,  they  certainly  brought  with  them  the  n:o(ic  of  ivorjhip  by  Jacnjice: 
And,  as  fo  awful  an  event  a$  the  deftru6lion  of  the  world  was  then  recent,  and  their  minds  impref^ 
with  a  t'cep  fenfe  cf  an  invifible  and  irrefiHibie  power,  ;;  was  natural  for  them  to  ere^  altars 
•where-ever  they  fojourned  during  rheir  peregrinations,  and  to  multiply  them  where  they  took  up 
t^cir  abode.  Of  thefe  aitars  he  fuppofes  the  Cromlfch  to  be  the  remains  :  And  he  conjertures, 
that  Crcmlech  is  derived  f'-om  the  Hebrew  Ctiremluacb,  a  devoted  fione  or  altar, 

ih)  D'uis-wirn-to/T.  It  is  remarkable,  that  there  huTeii^ntoK-Dre'w  or  Stdgriton-Dru:  nearBriftoI. 
^nere  Governor  Pownall  difcovered  very  ftrung  vfcfliges  cf  the  Druids, 

yc)  See  Dr.  Stukeley's  Defcripiion  of  Stonehenge. 

^/)  See  befllon  ill.  p.  3^. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  g- 

ra'uis,  the  end  of  one  piece  of  rock  fell  againft  this  flone  j  and  it  is  now  quite  immove- 
able."(<^) 

This  miich  for  the  ages  of  primitive  Druidifin.  In  fubfeqaent  times,  the  Phenicians, 
Greeks,  and  Belgic  fettlers  erected,  alfo,  their  facred  edifices :  Of  fuch,  however,  we 
have  no  veliiges  in  Danmonium  j  unlefs  the  lamp  wliich  was  found  fome  years  fmce,  at 
Exeter,  hath  any  connexion  with  a  Phenician  or  Grecian  temple.  This  lamp  is  of  brafs, 
and  has  the  crelcent  or  half-moon  as  reprefented  in  Montfaucon  :  And  it  is  generally 
conceived  to  have  belonged  to  a  temple  of  Diana.  "  Upon  the  coaft  of  Corntvall  and 
Di"vo/i/iire,  I  find  a  Promontory,  fays  Snmmes,  called  Hercules  his  Promontory  by  Pto- 
lemy, and  called  to  this  day  Herty-point,  containing  in  it  two  pretty  towns,  Herton  and 
Hertlaiui,  whereof  Hertoji  is  the  greater,  and  corruptly  called  Harton.  Now  as  I  will 
not  aver  as  ever  Hercules  was  here  and  named  it  lb,  as  Francifcus  Pkilelphus  and  Lileus 
CeraUus  aver,  becaule  Mr.  Camden  fays  there  v.ere  three  and  forty  Herciiles's,  as  Farro 
will  have  it,  he  cannot  admit  of  one  of  them  to  arrive  at  this  point.  Well  let  it  be  fo 
though  I  think  Diodorus  Siculits,  nor  auy  of  the  Greeks,  to  be  competent  judo-es  of  the 
voyages  of  the  Phsnicians,  yet  I  do  believe  that  the  Phgenicians  rather  than  the  Grecians 
might  give  it  the  name,  and  build  fome  temple  in  honour  of  their  own  Hercules,  as  he 
almolt  got  the  honour  of  Uie  temple  in  the  Streights,  fo  has  he  almoll  robbed  the  Phamciaa 
Hercules  of  this  alfo.'^^) 

There  is  one  Britifli  monument  in  Danmonium,  ftill  remaining  to  be  defcribed,  I  mean 
the  Barroxv  or  Burrovj  j  which  I  have  referved  for  this  place,  as  it  was  equally  common 
in  this  country,  to  all  the  iettlers  before  the  Roman  Period,  and  afterwards,  to  the  Ro- 
mans therafelves,  to  the  Saxons,  and  to  the  Danes.  But,  on  examining  the  Barrow,  we 
may  often  judge  by  its  contents  to  what  people  it  belonged.  Barrozvs  are  found  in  moil 
counties,  and  were  primai-ily  intended  for  protecting  the  remains  of  the  dead.  Among' 
the  Airyrians,  the  Pexfians,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Romans,  we  have  various  inftances  of 
this  ancient  monument.  We  read  in  Livy,  that  Claudius  Nero  buried  his  own  foldiers 
after  this  manner,  in  the  fecond  Punic  war :  And  Csefar  Germanicus  brought  the  firft  turf 
himfelf,  to  raife  the  Barrow  over  the  fallen  troops  of  Varius.  This  mode  of  interrment 
prevailed  in  all  the  northern  kingdoms.  But,  no  where,  are  Barrows  found  in  o-reater 
number  than  in  this  illand.  Thefe  monuments  are  called  Kairns,  or  Karnes,  if  confiftinc- 
of  Hone  materials;  and  Crigs  (in  Brtilh,  round  heaps)  from  their  circulai-  planj  and 
Burrcnvs,  from  their  ufe,  as  Burro^v  fignifies  a./epulchre  :  Barrcnvs,  however,  is  their  more 
general  name.  It  was  commonly  on  the  third  day  after  the  funeral-pile  had  been  fired 
that  they,  who  were  to  conftrucl  the  Barrows,  proceeded  to  collecl  the  bones  and  heap 
together  the  materials  ;  which  were  either  a  quantity  of  ftones,  or  earth  only,  or  ftones 
and  earth  mixed  together.  The  Itones,  in  fome  of  thele  monuments,  are  of  an  aftonifh- 
ing  magnitude.  In  the  conftruftion  of  the  plain  Barrow,  the  original  defign  was  nothing 
more  than  to  keep  up  the  earth  or  ftones  as  high  as  the  bate  would  bear.  Hence  was 
produced  a  conic  figure — the  moll  fimple  and  the  lealt  fubject  to  injury  from  time  or  vio- 
lence. There  were  Barrows  more  artificial — fome  furrounded  by  a  fingle  row  of  ftones 
that  formed  the  bafi — others  with  a  ring  of  earth — fome  having  a  large  flat  ftone  on  the 

top — others,  a  pillar — fome  encircled  both  at  the  top  and  bottom,  with  ftone  or  earth 

and  others  planted  with  oak  or  beech.  If  theie  monuments  were  for  private  perfons,  they 
were  ge'ierally  placed  near  the  public  roads  -.  If  the  lepulchres  of  foldiers,  they  were'com'- 
monly  thrown  up  on  the  field  of  battle,  where  the  Ibldiers  fell ;  and  on  thofe  plains,  that 
have  been  the  fcenes  of  military  action,  they  are  often  found  in  ftraight  lines,  as  reo-ular 
as  the  front  of  an  ai-my.  We  Ibmetimes  meet  with  tlie  Barrow  in  a  valley;  butniore 
frequently  on  a  hill  or  plain.  The  fize  of  thefe  fepu'chral  works  was  various  :  That  of 
Ninus,  near  the  city  of  Nineveh,  was,  according  to  Ctefias,  nine  furlongs  in  height  and 
ten  in  breadth.  In  this  country,  Silbury-Hill  is  one  of  the  moft  extraordinary  works  of  the 
ancient  Britons ;  though  but  a  mole-liill  compared  to  the  Aflyrian  monument.     In  moft 

inftances, 

{a)  Mr.  Badcock  feems  to  have  been  of  ophiion,  that  "  thofe  ancient  pillars  at  Combe-Martin, 
that  were  called  the  HavgMg-J}cr.et,[i)  were  fome  Druidical  remains  of  a  temple:  And  the  Har.girig. 
pone  Is  the  Stcnchenge  or  Balattced-Jiine,  which  was  remarkable  in  all  thefe  edifices.  It  is  faid,^that 
there  is  but  one  pillar  left — which  ferved  as  a  boundary  between  Combe-Martin  and  the  adjoining 
parifh."  {b)  Sammes,  p.  56. 

(1)  Not  from  a  Iheepdealci 's  having  been  hanged  there,  according  to  the  filly  tradition  of  the  neighbourhocd, 
\ 


96 


HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 


inftances,  the  fize  of  the  Barrow  was  determined  by  the  quality  of  the  deceafed.  Tina 
mode  of  burial  was  lb  univerfal,  that  it  will  be  almoll  impoflible  to  fay  to  what  nation 
any  Barrow  belonged  ;  unlefs  the  interior  parts  of  i*"  fliould  furnifh  criteria  to  affift  our 
determinations.  In  forae  Barrows  urns  were  repofitedj  in  others  were  round  or  fquare 
pits,  containing  a  black  greafy  mould,  without  urns ;  in  others,  Ikeletons,  that  (hewed 
no  figns  of  having  palled  through  the  fii'e.  The  contents  of  Britilh  and  Phenician  Bar- 
rows were,  probably,  much  alike :  thefe  were  the  allies  of  the  dead,  enclofed  in  urns 
more  or  lefs  poliihed,  or  little  repofitories  inftead  of  them.  In  the  Grecian  and  Roman 
Barrows,  we  may  look  not  only  for  urns,  but  frequently  for  pavement  underneath. 
The  Saxons  and  Danes  (we  are  told)  had  left  off  the  cuftom  of  burning  the  bodies 
of  the  deceafed,  before  their  arrival  at  this  ifland ;  though  they  continued  to  bury  their 
dead  under  earthen  hillocks.  So  that  Barrows,  containing  unburnt  bodies  or  (keletons 
Cwith  neither  urns  nor  cells)  may  be  Saxon  or  Danilh.  After  all,  hcnvever,  thefe  are 
very  uncertain  criteria.  The  urns  deligned  to  contain  human  bones,  were  of  gold, 
filver,  brals,  marble,  or  giafs  5  but,  more  frequently,  of  pottery  ware.  The  urn  was 
depofited  in  the  middle  of  the  Barrow;  and,  not  unfrequently,  another  near  the  outward 
edo-e.  The  urn  at  the  extremity  was,  I  llxppofe,  that  of  the  perfon  who  had  a  delire 
to  be  entombed  in  the  fame  Barrow  with  a  deceafed  relation  or  friend.  Two  or  mord 
urns  were  fometimes  placed  round  the  central  fepulchre.  And,  indeed,  there  have  been 
inftances  of  no  lefs  than  lifty  furrounding  the  pi-incipal  urn.  The  urn  was  generally 
placed  ereft  on  its  bottom,  and  covered  with  a  flat  Itone  or  tyle.  The  Druids  applied 
thefe  Barrows  to  various  purpofes.  On  the  Stone-barrows,  elpecially  where  there  was  3 
laro-e  flat  ftone  on  the  top,  they  kindled  their  annual  fires ;  and  the  enclofed  Earth-bar* 
rows,  they  ufed  as  altars  for  lacrifice,  or  places  of  inauguration.  Here  too,  they  pronounced 
their  decrees,  and  made  the  moll  important  decilions,  as  from  a  facred  eminence. (^) 
In  Danmoniura,  there  are  numerous  Barrows  on  the  Jugum  Ocrtnufii,  and  on  each  fide 
of  this  chain  of  mountains.  They  told  me  (fays  Dr.  Stukeley)  of  a  great  Karne  or  heap 
offtones,  on  Black-Dov.-n,  called  Lapper-Jloncs,  probably  a  fepulchral  monument.  On 
the  northern  extremity  of  Hemyock,  towards  Wellington,  there  is  a  large  Barrow,  com- 
pofed  of  flints  :  it  is  c3\\e.A  Syjnon/borougb,  as  is  the  eftate  on  which  it  Hands,  and  the  next 
eftate  adjoininf'  to  it.  The  common  people  have  a  notion  that  a  king  called  Syf?!on  was 
buried  there.  ''The  tradition  of  the  country  plainly  fliews,  that  it  was  the  burial-place  of 
fome  perfon  or  perfons  of  eminence.  On  the  right  fide  of  the  turnpike-road  leadmg  from 
Columbton  to  Honhon,  ovtv  Ketztf/noor,  are  two  Barrows,  contiguous  to  each  other.  There 
are  Barrows  alio  on  Eall-hill,  near  the  town  of  Ottery  St.  Mary.  On  Haldon  there  are 
a  great  number  of  Barrows,  particularly  on  the  Kenne  fide  ;  foniTed,  for  the  moft  part, 
of  flinty  ftones ;  feveral  of  which  are,  at  this  time,  the  reputed  boundaries  between  the 
Lords  of  the  neighbouring  lands  :  Thus  they  have  generally  been  confidered  as  Tenn'mi, 
and  neglefted  as  fepulchral  monuments.  On  the  29th  of  May,  1773,  fome  workmen 
upon  Haldon  difcovered  an  urn  in  a  large  oblong  ftone  heap,  from  the  middle  of  which, 
they  had  taken  a  confiderable  quantity  of  flints,  for  repairing  the  road  that  leads  over  the 
down  from  Kenneford  to  Newton -Buftiel.  This  Tunnthu  is  fituated  near  the  Kenneford 
road,  about  thirt)'  perch  to  the  eaftward  of  the  eighth  mile-ftone  from  Exeter.  The  urn 
was  four  feet  deep  from  the  creft  of  the  Tumulus,  and  let  into  the  folid  earth  beneath, 
to  the  depth  of  half  a  foot :  It  was  covered  with  an  irregular  flat  ftone,  about  five  inches 
thick.  It  conlifted  of  earthenware,  evidently  baked.  The  workmen,  fancying  the  ura 
to  be  a  crock  of  money,  inftantly  broke  it  with  their  fhovels  Into  feveral  pieces  :  Thefe 
pieces  were  in  thicknefs  about  three- fourths  of  an  inch.  The  interior  diameter  of  the 
urn  itfelf,  taken  in  the  moft  bulging  part  of  its  curvature,  was  at  leaft  ten  inches  :  And  its 
height  was  about  fourteen  inches,  as  well  as  Mr. Chappie  could  judge  from  the  fragments. 
The  workmen  eagerly  grafped  its  contents  inhandfulls;  but  found  themlelves  only  in 
pofleflion  of  a  greafy  kind  of  afties,  that  linelt  like  loot.  Among  the  alhes  were  fomt 
fmall  fragments  of  bones.  There  was  a  yellowilli  tinge  on  the  urn,  and  the  flints  above 
it ;  which  the  workmen  pofitiveiy  allerteci  to  be  gold,  dilfolved  and  evaporated  through 
the  vellel.  This  was  afterwards  found  (by  a  microfcope)  to  be  a  diminutive  mafs,  bearing 
yellow  flowers,  with  a  few  black  and  globular  berries.  On  this  large  Tumulus,  which 
mealured  tv/elve  feet  in  length,  and  twenty-eight  in  breadth,  a  further  fearch  was  made  the 

lame 

{a)  For  curious  Information  on  the  fubjeft  oi  Jepulckral  TtimuU,  fee  Pennant's  Tour  In  Wales — 
p.  381  to  388. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  97 

fame  year,  on  the  z8th  of  June,  when  a  fecond  and  third  urn  were  difcovered.  Thd 
iecond  urn  was  at  the  diftance  of  fourteen  feet  from  the  fpot  where  the  firft  lay ;  and  the 
third  urn  twelve  feet  diftant  from  the  fecond.  Thefe  urns,  alfo,  contained  a'  black  and 
greafy  kind  of  afties  ;  and  in  each  of  them  about  a  handful  of  fplintered  bones.  The  in- 
terior diameter  of  the  fecond  urn,  as  it  Hood  in  the  ground,  was  full  thirteen  inches ;  its 
depth  below  the  furface  of  the  ground  being  nearly  the  lame,  and  the  whole  height  of  the 
urn  about  eighteen  inches  :  But  this  could  not  be  exactly  afcertainedj  as  its  neck  above 
tile  furface  of  the  ground  was  fo  rotten,  that  it  mouldered  into  dull,  on  the  removal  of 
the  Hones  which  furroundcd  and  covered  it.  Of  the  third  urn,  no  dimenfions  could  be 
taken  ;  for,  on  emptying  it  of  the  allies,  it  quickly  fell  to  pieces.  Thefe  two  urns  feem 
not  to  have  been  fo  well  manufaftured  as  the  firll ;  which  was  fo  little  dec?yed,  that  it 
might  have  been  preferved  entire,  but  for  the  accident  I  have  mentioned.  This  veffel  was 
compofed  of  a  dark  grayifh  clay,  found  in  fome  parts  of  Haldon,  and  afterwards  dipt  in  a 
brighter  brown  compofition,  by  way  of  glaze  5  and  then  ornamented  with  feveral  figures, 
before  it  was  burnt  or  baked.  The  latter  part  of  the  procefs  muft  have  been  done  in  fome 
mould ;  the  balket-work  towards  the  bottom  being  regular  and  diftinft  :  And  the  like 
regularity  appears  in  the  other  decorations.  At  a  linall  diftance  from  this  Tumulus,  to  the 
northward,  is  a  large  circular  Tumulus  ;  the  diameter  of  which  is  fixty  feet.  A  continu- 
ation of  flinty  ftones  under  the  moffy  turf,  Ihews  that  there  was  fome  connedlion  between 
thele  Tumuli.  This  circular  Tumulus  might  have  been  the  burial-place  of  fuperior 
officers.  We  may  obferve,  that  tlie  circular  Tumuli  on  Haldon,  are  true  circles,  and  the 
periphery  of  their  bafes  regularly  footed  up  with  ftone.  Not  long  after  this,  Mr.  Tripe, 
late  furgeon  at  Afliburton  (v/hofe  ingenuity  and  various  learning  entitle  him  to  a  place 
an\ong  the  literary  charaiSter;  of  Devon)  undertook  to  examine  leveral  of  the  Haldon-Bar- 
rows ;  into  the  centre  of  which  he  made  fedions,  and  found  them  all  to  be  uniform  in 
their  ftructure  :  His  hopes  were,  however,  not  gratified  in  this  purfuit :  For,  though  in  fome 
of  thefe  Barrows  he  found  pieces  of  urns  wrapt  up  in  mofs,  and  particularly  in  one  of 
them,  a  fhoulder-bone  of  a  child,  met  with  nothing  by  which  he  might  venture  to  decide 
upon  their  antiquity'.  A  gentleman  who  accompanied  Mr.  Tripe  on  this  expedition,  thus 
proceeds  with  the  narrative  :  <'  We  refolved  upon  renewing  our  purfuits,  merely  for  a  fingle 
trial  more  :  and  the  Barrow  we  pitched  upon,  was  one  oi  the  moft  apparent  eminencies  on 
the  down  j  that  which  is  the  prefent  reputed  boundary  between  the  parifhes  of  Kenton 
and  Kenne,  not  far  from  the  head  of  HoL'o--way-l2ine,  leading  from  the  down  towards; 
Oxton.  We  called  together  a  regiment  of  labourers,  and  made  a  bold  attack  upon  this 
Barrow,  through  which  we  made  a  wide  opening,  home  to  the  center  ;  but  meeting  with 
nothing  to  reward  our  dciires  (except  an  exaft  uniformity  ot  conftruftion  with  all  the 
others  we  had  before  opened)  we  then  agreed  to  give  up  our  fearches,  and  were  nearly 
upon  departing  :  But,  before  we  difmified  our  labourers,  I  happened  to  clean  away  the 
bafe  of  the  Barrow,  near  the  center,  and  at  lalt  difcerned  a  very  large  flat-headed  Itone, 
quite  even  with  the  ground  upon  which  the  Barrow  was  erefted  :  I  imparted  this  to  my 
friend;  and,  on  viewing  it  more  nicely,  we  found  ourfelves  once  more  quickened  in  our 
hopes.  Mr.  Tripe  then  undertook  to  keep  off  all  the  labourers,  except  a  couple  to 
aflilt  me  in  ftarting  and  getting  up  this  cap-ftone  :  And  under  it  I  found  an  ur?2,  corn- 
pleat  and  uninjured,  with  its  mouth  downward,  refting  upon  another  large  flat  ftone.  I 
took  it  very  carefully  up,  and  delivered  it  to  my  friend  :  and  under  the  urn  we  found  the 
bones  and  afhes  of  the  deceafed.  Gratified  as  we  were  by  this  difcovery,  we  had,  however, 
the  mortification  ftiH  to  remain  ignorant  as  to  its  antiquity ;  for  it  happened  to  be  an 
unbaked  urn,  without  any  infcription  or  other  marks  to  aflift  us  in  deciding  upon  it.  It 
was  in  ftiape,  much  like  aBarnftaple  or  Bideford  butter-pot:  and  I  left  it  with  my  friend 
Mr.  Tripe,  in  whofe  cuftody  it  probably  ftill  remains."  This  urn  is,  at  prefent,  in  the 
pofleffion  of  the  Rev.  John  Swete,(^)  of  Oxton-Houfe,  who  is  animated,  and  at  the  fame 
time  exaft  in  the  following  defcription :  "  Quitting  the  grounds  of  Oxton,  we  rode  up 
HoUoway-lane,  and  having  maftered  an  afcent  of  a  hill,  emerging  from  a  deep  defile,  we 
gained  the  level  heights  of  Haldon.  Turning  ftiort  to  the  right,  we  infpefted  a  large  Bar- 
row, known  by  the  name  of  the  great  jione-heap  ;  which,  though  originally  of  a  conical 
form  (as  are  all  the  Tumuli  in  thele  parts)  yet,  being  now  interfered  by  an  opening 
made  fome  time  before,  afforded  a  very  confpicuous  object  to  the  fubjacent  country.  The 
form  of  this  Barrow  was  nearly  circular,  being  ratlier  more  than  two  hundred  feet  in  cir- 

tumference 
(a;  Son  of  the  latP  Mr.  Tripe,  of  Afliburton. 
Vol.  r.  N 


98  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

cumference,  and  about  fifteen  in  height.  By  the  aid  of  fourteen  men,  a  paflage  into  it  was 
effected,  ahnoft  due  eaft,  about  eight  feet  wide  :  Nearly  at  the  fame  fpace  from  the  margin, 
was  difcovered  a  dry  wall,  about  two  feet  high,  which  was  ieparated  from  without  by  very 
large  Hones,  in  the  form  of  piers  or  buttrelles.  On  arriving  near  the  center,  were  feen  a 
great  many  large  ftones  (all  of  them  flint)  placed  over  one  another  in  a  convex  form  ; 
and,  in  the  middle  thereof,  a  lai-ge  Hone  nearly  round,  two  feet  in  diameter,  fix  inches 
thick,  covering  a  cell  on  the  ground  about  two  feet  fquare,  formed  by  four  large  Hones 
placed  on  their  edges.  In  this  was  an  urn  (inverted,  which  was  rather  remarkable)  con- 
taining the  allies  and  burnt  bones  of  probably  a  youth ;  as  they  were  fmall,  with  little 
mufcular  impreflion.  When  the  urn  was  removed,  thele  appeared  as  n.vhite  as  fmxv — 
XiVKx  oiTix — though,  foon  after  they  were  expofed  to  the  air,  they  loft  that  whitenefs. 
From  the  fize  of  the  Tumulus,  and  this  circumltance,  we  may  gather,  that  they  were  the 
remains  of  a  perfon  of  dignity  ;  whole  furviving  friends,  in  honor  of  his  memoiy,  had  taken 
care  to  have  them  well  bvu-nt  and  blanched  by  the  intenienefs  of  the  fire.  The  urn  is  thir- 
teen inches  high,  ten  in  diameter  at  the  top,  five  at  the  bottom,  near  half  an  inch  thick, 
and  holds  about  ten  quarts.  It  is  made  of  unbaked  earth,  iinokcd  and  difcoloured  by  its 
expofure  to  the  fire,  and  conlequently  without  inlcription  or  embellilhments."  In  a  high 
field,  called  Caftle-Park,  in  Hennock,  I  met  with  a  imall  earth-work,  which  is  evidently 
lepulchral.  Its  fliape  is  elliptical -.  and  its  round  is  formed  of  linall  ftones.  The  (rt)cler- 
gyman  of  Hennock,  a  fliort  time  afterwards,  fent  me  the  following  account  of  it.  "  We 
opened  the  hillock  that  you  fufpecled  might  be  a  Tumulus.  After  the  linall  acre-ftones 
%vere  taken  away,  we  found  earth  and  ftones  regulaily  laid  on  :  the  earth  ufed  was  the 
vegetable  ibil.  The  ftones  were  fiat,  and  fome  of  them  of  confiderable  fize.  We  found 
the  hillock  thus  formed,  till  we  came  four  feet  and  half  deep,  when  we  perceived  the  ftones 
to  lie  a  contrary  way ;  and  we  llif'pefted  ibme  pavement ;  but  upon  removing  all  the  top, 
we  found  only  three  ftones  placed  on  edge,  and  let  downabout  half  their  d;pth  into  the 
faft.  The  two  fide  ftones  were  of  the  fame  fize  ;  their  ends  in  a  ftraight  line,  and  their 
upper  furface  level  with  the  middle  ftone  :  they  were  placed,  north  and  Ibuth.  When  we 
came  thus  far,  we  hefitated  whether  we  flio'.ild  let  them  renuji :  we  removed  them,  and 
funk  into  the  faft,  but  could  find  nothing.  The  two  fide-ftones  were  thirteen  inches,  the 
middle  one  three  feet  two  inches."  There  are  leveral  circular  ftone-heaps  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  this  earth- vvork.  On  the  oppofite  hill  to  the  eaft  is  the  old  Beacon,  about 
half  a  mile  dillant  from,  the  Caftle-field.  On  opening  one  of  the  lepulchral  monuments  a 
few  years  fince,  upon  Maredown,  in  the  parifti  of  Moreton,  were  found  ajhes,  burnt  -ixood, 
and  pieces  of  earthen  --vejjels,  the  fragments  of  urns.  The  greater  number  of  the  Barrows 
■which  I  have  noticed,  confift  chiefly  of  ftone  ;  which  might  have  been  colle<5led,  as  con- 
venience led,  from  the  adjacent  grouiids,  where  the  fcantinefs  of  eaith  would  have  ren- 
dered the  operation  more  laborious.  On  the  wild  downs  of  Withecombe,  and  the  fur- 
rounding  pariihes,  the  Tumuli  invariably  confift  of  moor-ftone.  There  are  lex'eral  ftone 
Barrows  in  the  parilh  of  Ilfington.  But  on  Siuarnell-Doix'n,  there  is  a  moft  magnificent 
Barrow;  fuch  as  a  numerous  army  might  have  been  Ibmc  time  employed  in  raifing. 
The  circumference  of  the  Barrow,  is  ninety-four  paces.  Here,  probably,  in  the  centre, 
were  depofited  the  remains  of  fome  great  perlbnage — perhaps  a  Eritilh  Prince ;  for  tlie  dif- 
cover}'  of  which  we  need  not  dig  deep,  as  in  the  central  part  there  is  very  ftiallow  earth. 
There  is  a  large  circle  of  high  heaped  ftones,  loofely  thrown  around  this  Barrow  ;  under 
which  were  buried,  perhaps,  the  bodies  of  the  Princes  relations ;  or  of  thole,  poflibly, 
who  fell  with  him  in  battle.  A  vaft  deal  ct'  ftone  is  fcattered  about  the  down,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  this  burial-place.  There  is  another  immenle  Barrow  on  QuarnelU 
down,  confifting  entirely  of  fmall  loofe  ftone.  On  Ha/well-down  near  Alhburton,  is  a 
veiy  large  ftone-heap.  And  on  Dartmoor,  and  on  Roborough-downs,  near  Plymouth, 
are  a  variety  of  karnes.  On  the  north- fide,  alio,  of  the  Jugiim_  Ocr'tnum,  we  might 
inveftigate  a  great  number  of  Barrows.  There  are  large  accumulations  of  ftone,  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  tlie  foreft  of  Exmoor.  The  parifti  of  Northmolton  is  lepai  :tted  from  Exmoor 
by  ftones  kx  in  the  ground,  along  the  fummit  of  the  hills.  On  thefe  hills  are  a  number 
of  Barrows;  leven  of  which  are  within  or  near  the  limits  of  Northmolton.  They  are 
confufed  heaps  of  earth  and  ftone,  overgrown  with  mols.  The  people  in  the  neighbour- 
hood fay,  they  were  fmiply  1  and- marks  ;  but  they  were,  doubtlefs,  burying-places. 
Lyttelton  dilcovered  manv  Barrows  in  the  north  of  Devon  ;  though  it  does  not  appear, 

that 

(j)  Mr.  Hill ;  one  of  the  beft  Informed,  and  at  the  fame  time,  moft  communicative  of  my  cor- 
refpondents. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  99 

tliat  either  liirnfelf  or  Milles,  his  brother  antiquarian,  made  the  flighted  ufe  of  the  difco- 
very.  "  (^)I  met  (lays  he)  with  two  or  three  Barrows  on  Brattoji-do'ivn,  near  Arling- 
ton J  and  ib  miuiy  large  ones  on  Berry -dci.'jn,  that  I  fulpecl  they  gave  name  to  the 
place. (^)  The  five  hills,  or  rather  the  hilly  ridge  vjith  fi^e  pivellmgs,  on  the  fummit 
above  the  down  oi  Ilfardcojnbe,  is  lb  fmgular  a  conriguration  of  ground,  tlut  I  would  liave 
given  a  good  deal  to  liave  been  able  to  draw  it."(')  ^^r.  Badcock  takes  notice  of  "  a  fine 

Barrow, 

{a)  In  a  letter  to  Milles,  dated  July  17,  1756.  As  Lyttelton  and  Milles  were  both  Deans  o£ 
Ixeter,  and  as  Lyttelton  was  Birtiop  of  Carlirte,  I  have  thought  proper,  in  feveral  places,  to  mention 
their  phb:  names,  left,  by  giving  them  different  cities  at  different  times,  I  (hould  occafion  perplexity  ; 
or,  by  attempting  to  avoid  perplexity,  I  fliould  be  guilty  of  ciraimlocution  j  or,  by  endeavouring  to 
rteer  clear  of  both,  1  (hould  fail  into  anachronifms. 

{b)  A  gentleman,  who  lately  vifued  the  north  of  Devon,  thus  informs  die  author:  "  Proceeding 
to  Parracombe,  at  the  center  of  the  village,  I  turned  out  of  the  Jlfracorr.be  read,  and  by  a  rougJi  a/cent 
rifing  towards  the  fouth,  1  attained  the  high  ground  of  Roit.'le'igh-Q.o<cnmov\ ;  over  which  having  rode 
for  three  miles,  nearly  on  quitting  it  I  perceived,  en  the  weft  of  the  track,  a  large  Burrow,  which 
had  been  opened  in  feveral  places,  and  was  in  d.ameter  above  one  hundred  feet.  Its  fituaticn  was 
contiguous  to  the  lonely  farm  of  Carbrcckcn  Burrow,  deriving  its  name  from  the  Tumulus  in  queftion." 

(f)  Weftcore  fpsaks  of  feveral  Barrows  in  the  north  of  Devon  :  "  At  the  north  end  of  the  towne 
ffalls  in  the  ryvsret  called  Yeo  or  North  Yeow  which  fprings  at  Challucomb,  als  Chaldecomb,  fome- 
tyme  the  land  of  William  de  Rawleigh  now  of  Hatch.  In  this  pr.rifli  being  bordering  on  the  fforrefl 
of  Exmoore  are  dyvers  round  Hillocks  of  earth,  and  ftones  antieotly  caft  vp,  which  they  terme  Bur- 
rowes  and  diftinguilh  tiiem  by  names  which  1  can  imagine  to  be  nothing  elfe  but  monuments  of 
fome  interments  cf  perfons  of  note  flayne  at  fome  iattayle  or  ikirmige.  of  fome  of  them  there  are 
-yet  renaembred  old  tales,  how  fiene  dragons  or  meteors  haue  often  been  feen  to  light  on  them  :  bee 
pieafed  to  heare  this  tliat  happened  within  thefe  6  or  7  yeares  vevifyed  by  the  partye  and  credited  for 
his  honeftye.  A  dayly  labouring  man  hauing  gotten  a  little  money,  bellowed  it  for  fome  acres  of 
land  &  thereon  began  to  build  an  houfe,  which  was  not  fair  from  one  of  thofe  Bonowes  named  Brc- 
ken  Bon-civc,  whence  liee  fetcht  his  ftcnes  to  build  withall,  and  hauing  digged  into  the  bowels  of 
this  hiUock,  hee  found  a  fmall  place  as  if  it  had  been  an  oven  fayrely,  ftrongly  and  clofely  walled  vp, 
which  put  him  in  very  ioyi'ul  hope,  that  fome  great  good  happ  had  befallen  him,  and  that  hee  (hould 
tinde  fome  treafure  to  maintayne  him  more  liberally  in  his  old  age  and  breaking  an  hole  in  the  wall 
where  in  the  concavitie  hee  eipied  an  earthen  pott  (fome  Vrne  I  thinke)  and  faftning  his  hand 
thereon,  hee  fodainly  heard  or  feemed  to  heare  the  noyie  of  the  treading  of  many  horfes  coming  to- 
'•  ards  the  place,  which  caufed  him  to  withdraw  his  hand,  fearing  the  comers  would  take  the  pur- 
chafe  from  him  (for  hee  doubted  no'hing  but  thp.r  it  was  treafure)  but  turning  about  to  fee  what  they 
were,  there  was  neitiier  man  nor  horfe  in  veiw :  to  th?  pott  againe  hee  goes,  and  heard  the  like  noyfe 
the  2d  time,  ytt  looking  about  faw  nothing,  at  the  3d  time  hee  brought  it  forth,  and  the  treafure  was 
onely  a  /-:tv  tones  1:%  if  tbcy  had  heene  of  children  or  lambes  or  the  lykc.  But  tlie  man  (whyther 
wi:h  the  fear  [which  hee  dcnyed]  or  other  caufe  I  cannot  gheffe  at)  in  very  fnort  time  after  loft  both 
hearing  &  figiu,  &  in  lefs  than  3  monchts  declyning  dyed  :  hee  was  held  very  honeft  &  conftantly 
reported  this,  diuers  times  to  men  of  good  qualitie  with  proteftations  of  the  truth  thereof,  even  to  his 
death.  Of  another  of  the  Borrowes  the  r^me  I  haue  forgotten,  but  it  is  nere  another  that  is  named 
TVood-Borrciv  of  which  a  gentleman  worthy  credit  bo:''^  for  honeftye  &  wealth  told  mee  this  tale, 
wliich  happened  lome  yeare  or  two  before  the  other,  two  good  fellowes  that  inhabited  not  far  from 
it  were  informed  by  one  that  was  held  TKilful  in  metaphyfical  ftudyes,  that  there  was  in  that  hillock 
a  great  braffe  pann,  ard  therein  much  treafure  of  filuer  &  gold,  which  if  they  would  dig  for  hee  pro- 
niifed  thero  (by  his  art)  to  fecure  them  from  all  danger,  foe  hee  might  haue  a  part;  they  willinely 
confented,  and  made  a  4.th  man  acquainted  therewitii  whome  they  knew  to  bee  valiant  and  hardye ; 
but  hee,  better  qualifyed  then  to  vndertalce  fuch  courfes  to  purchaie  wealth,  abfolutely  refufed  to  bee 
partaker  tl-.erein,  but  promifed  (ecrecie.  the  otiier  two  with  the  conjurer  fall  to  their  work  8c  ply  it 
ibe  luftily  that  it  was  not  long  ere  they  found  the  pann  covered  with  a  large  ftone;  with  the  fight 
whereof  <Sc  their  prote>flors  words  encouraged,  they  earneftly  follow  their  bufinefs,  with  their  vtmoft 
abilitie.  for  the  conjurer  told  th^m,  that  if  they  fainted  when  it  was  in  light  it  would  bee  taken  from 
them,  and  all  their  libour  loft,  and  now  the  cover  v/as  to  bee  opened,  &  the  younger  of  them  at  the 
work  hee  was  fodainly  taken  witii  f'jch  a  faintneff,  that  hee  could  rot  lift  his  hand  to  doe  any  thing 
&  therefore  called  to  t!ie  other  to  fupply  his  place,  which  hee  did,  Sc  was  inftantiy  taken  with  the  like 
nuninefi  which  continued  a  very  fmall  time,  yet  their  protedor  told  them  the  birds  v/ere  flown  away 
&  onely  the  neft  left  which  they  fcund  true ;  for  recovering  their  ftrength  they  tooke  out  the  pann, 
wlierein  tliey  found  nothing  at  all  but  the  bottome  thereof  (where  the  tieafure  (hould  feeme  to  have 
layn)  very  cleari  Sc  the  reft  all  cankered.  Hee  that  told  mee  this  protefted  hee  faw  the  pann,  &  that 
the  2  labourers  conftantly  avouched  the  other  circumftances  to  bee  true."  Weftcote's  View  (Port- 
•iedge  MS.)  p.  1  ---.  i  :u. 

Vol.  I.  N  z 


100  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

Barrow,  immediately  beyond  the  outer  row  of  ftoncs  on  Maddoc"s-down  :  And  my 
curiolity  (fays  he)  will  lead  me  to  open  it."  I  do  not  find  that  he  put  his  defign  into 
execution. (<^) — But  to  enumerate  the  Barrows  in  this  county,  would  be  endlef:j. 

And  the  preient  Section  is  already  extended  to  too  great  a  length  ;  fcanty  as  my  mate- 
ri.u»  were,  for  a  hiftory  of  the  Danmonian  Architefture.  If,  however,  I  have  indulged  a 
little  in  conjefture,  it  fhould  be  confidered,  that  fuch  a  fubjeft  requires  illullration  :  And 
a  few  Icattered  fadts,  at  io  remote  an  a^ra,  can  never  be  rendered  interelling,  unlefs  they 
are  mingled  with  probabilities. 


SECTION      V. 


FIElf^  of  PASTURAGE  and  AGRICULTURE  in  DANMONIUM,  during  the  BRITISH 

PERIOD. 

I .  Danmofiium,  originally,  a  Wildemefs — The  Ground  prepared  for  Pajiurage — The  Flocks 
and  Herds  of  the  Damnonians — Dartmoor  aj^d  Exmoor. — II.  Agriculture — Ceefar  quoted— 
The  DaiDnonian  Far?n — Orchard  or  Garden. — III.  Remarkable  Fertility  of  ike  Ijland,  as 
reported  by  the  Phenicians  and  Greeks  j  a  plain  Proof  of  its  'very  early  Inhabitation. 

AS  the  Danmonians  had  made  fome  progrefs  in  architeSture  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Romans,  it  is  natural  to  expecf,  that  they  were  not  deficient  in  other  arts  which 
contributed  to  the  conveniencies  and  comforts  of  life.  Even  of  a  people  juft  emerging 
irom  barbarifm,  the  firll  pifture  is  that  of  fliepherds  and  herdfmen  :  And  the  view  of 
hufbandmen  follows  in  quick  fucceflion.  With  huibandmen  we  connedf  the  idea  of  the 
farm,  and  all  its  obvious  appendages :  Nor  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  farm-houle, 
is  it  eafy  to  detach  the  garden  or  the  orchard.  To  the  firft  people  that  landed  in  Dan- 
moniura,  the  face  of  the  country  was  every  where  rough ;  the  higher  grounds  were  dark- 
ened by  foreft  trees,  or  covered  with  coppice,  brakes,  and  heath ;  and  the  low-lsnds 
v/ere  overgrown  with  wood  or  with  the  rankeil  herbs ;  where  the  rivers,  which  muft  have 
run  lawlelsly,  obftru6led  not  the  progrels  of  vegetation.  Amidft  fuch  luxuriance,  the 
bealts  were  furnillied  with  coverts,  the  birds  had  built  their  nelts  fecurely,  and  the  waters 
wei'e  rcpleniflied  with  filh.  To  the  Aborigines  of  Danmonium,  therefore,  the  wild  animals 
of  the  country  muft  have  afforded  a  read}'  fuftenance ;  whilft  the  neceflity  of  hunting,  of 
fowling  and  of  fifliing,  was  inftantly  liiggefted.  But  thefe  exertions  for  the  fupply  of  their 
immediate  wants,  were  llight,  in  comparllbn  of  the  \'arious  labors  impofed  on  the  firft 
colonifts.  To  clear  the  grounds,  to  fell  trees,  and  to  deftroy  wild  beafts,  was  a  talk  pre- 
paratory to  tladr  lettlement.  And,  among  the  animals  which  they  hunted,  for  food  or 
diverfion,  or  in  order  to  the  fecurity  of  their  perlbns,  they  muft  have  taken  fome,  whofe 
gentlenefs  conciliated  regard ;  and  whole  docility  foon  rendered  the  attempt  fuccefsful 
to  domefticate  "  the  penfioners  of  nature"',  or  confine  the  I'overs  within  certain  bounda- 
ries. To  difcufs  the  point,  whether  the  Danmonians  thus  fubdued,  by  gradual  means, 
thofe  animals  v  hicli  are  fo  ufeful  in  fubfervience  to  man  ;  or  whether  they  imported  with 
them  their  dogs  and  their  cattle,  would  here  be  impertinent  or  unneceffary.  Certain  it 
js,  that  when  CTjelar  invaded  the  illand,  the  riches  of  the  Danmonians  chiefly  confifted  in 
their  ca.ttle.    It  was  their  practice  to  keep  large  herds  upon  the  uninhabited  grounds  that 

fkirted 

{d)  Long  hefore  hi-s  dcat'i,  his  literary  purfuits  had  been  often  interrupted  by  a  dreadful  indifpo- 
fition  :  Heaven  knows,  that,  at  this  moment,  I  am  but  too  feniible  cf  what  his  fufferings  muft  have 
been  !  The  ill-he;ilth  of  n-iv  predecelTor,  I  fear,  was  etita.led  on  me,  with  the  hiftory  !  There  feem$ 
to  be  a  fatality  in  the  attempt — N'ot  to  mention  the  irr.perfeft  works  of  Sir.  W.  Pole,  of  Weftcote,  or 
of  Rifdon ;  Milles,  and  Ciiapple,  and  Badcock,  have  either  fallen  viftims  tc  the  Hi.f  cry  of  Devon, 
or  died  in  the  midft  of  their  labors  !  It  was  this  idea,  which  chiefly  induced  me  to  print  my  ColUc- 
ibm  for  the  Gekeral  Hi5torv,  in  the  prefcnt  form,  without  lofs  of  time.  If  1  drop,  before  the 
completion  of  this  work,  the  public  will,  here,  poffefs  a  variety  of  ufeful  Notices;  which,  from  the 
mnltipliciry  of  my  p:ipers,  thtii  diforder  ;n  numerous  irftances  (to  any  other  eye  than  mine)  the 
cndJefs  diverfity  cf  the  MS.  and  the  difficulty  of  decyphering;  a  great  part  of  it,  and  from  many  otl;£r 
circumftances,  no  writer,  fucceeding  me,  could  poflibly  bring  forward  :  They  are  Notices,  which, 
in  tliis  cafe,  would  be  inevitably  loCt. 


The     BRITISH     PERIOD.  loi 

■fkirted  t)ie  confines  of  their  country.  "  Retaining,  under  their  own  care,  as  many  as 
they  could  conveniently  turnilh  with  paftures,  th,ey  detached  the  rell  into  the  woods,  or 
the  borders,  under  the  infpeiSion  of  their  fervants.  And  thele  they  fometimes  called 
Cea}2gon,  or  fcrefters.'"('^)  According  to  Mr.  Carte,  the  Danmonians  had  a  wide  fcope, 
indeed,  for  tlieir  flocks.  "  Weihnoreland  and  Somerfetfliire  (fays  he)  being  moift  and 
moralfy  countries,  ferved  the  Brigantes  and  Dmnnonii  for  their  fummer  paftures,  as  Cum- 
berland and  Cornwall,  having  a  dryer  foil,  did  for  their  winter."  But,  as  Mr.Whitaker 
tells  us,  "  all  the  change  of  paftures  that  was  made  by  the  Britons,  was  the  fame  as  is 
made  to  this  day  by  the  Highlanders ;  driving  the  cattle  to  the  valleys  in  fummer,  and 
redriving  them  to  the  hills  in  winter."  The  Cajfini  and  OJ}idammi,  as  fome  conjefture, 
were  keepers  of  the  flocks  and  herds  of  the  Danmonians.  Thefe  flocks  and  herds  were, 
probably,  fed  along  the  extenlive  tra(5i:s  of  Daitmoor ;  where  the  Caflini  and  Oftidamnii, 
had  their  temporary  habitations  ;  fixing  tlieir  refidence  on  a  particular  fpot,  as  long  as  the 
pafturage  around  them  was  fafficient  for  the  maintenance  of  their  cattle.  And  (^)Ex- 
moor  muft  have  afforded  a  noble  range  for  the  flocks  and  herds  of  the  Britons.  Not  that 
the  uplands  of  Danmoniura  were  the  refort  of  Ihepherds  or  of  herdfmen  only  :  The  con- 
trary has  already  appeared. (c)  At  this  junfture,  the  care  of  cattle  was  a  hazardous 
employment ;  fince  every  night  the  peafants  muft  have  watched  with  their  maftiffs,  for  the 
protection  of  tlie  iheep  and  kine,  from  thofe  ravenous  beafts  that  inhabited  the  woods. 
The  dangers  of  this  occupation,  however,  daily  decreafed ;  fince  the  Danmonians,  ftill 
incroaching  on  the  habitations  of  the  wolf  and  the  bear,  foon  thinned  their  numbers,  and 
harrafled  the  beafts  that  efcaped,  or  drove  them  into  diftant  coverts.  On  thofe  fpots, 
which  were  thus  rendered  compatibly  fecure,  they  would  naturally  turn  their  attention 
to  the  foil :  And,  barren  in  many  places,  in  others  rocky,  in  others  overgrown  with 
briars  or  with  the  rankeft  weeds,  the  foil  could  be  made  produftive,  only  by  unremitting 
labor  and  affiduity .  On  the  point  of  the  Britifla  pafturage  and  agriculture,  we  may  gather, 
perhaps,  a  few  hints  from  ancient  authors.  Csefar's  diftinftion  between  the  interior 
Britons,  and  the  Britons  of  the  coafts,  muft  eafily  recur  to  memory :  What  relates  to 
the  preient  topic  is  vague.  Whilft  the  Belgas  were  well  acquainted  with  agriculture,  it 
leems  that  raoft  of  the  Aborigines  depended  for  liiftenance  on  their  flocks  and  herds. — 
"  htteriores  plerique  (the  Aborigines)  frianerJa  uon  ferunt,  fed  lacte  ct  came  •vlviait.'"' 
But  fome  of  the  interior  inhabitants  of  the  ifland,  were  agriculturifts.  That  the  Abori- 
gines fhould,  even  in  Cffilar's  time,  notvvithftanding  the  lapie  of  lb  many  ages,  in  which 
numbers  of  them,  difpofteft  of  their  original  fettlements  in  Danmonium,  had  been  driven 
into  the  heart  of  the  illand,  prefer  the  vagrant  life  of  fhephcrds  to  the  fteadier  occupation 
of  hufljandmen,  is  furely  probable  from  the  Afiatic  characier.  Yet  I  cannot  conceive 
that  ib  ingenious  a  people  had  been  utterly  inattentive  to  huft)andiy.  Accordingly,  we 
may  infer  from  the  very  pafiage  before  us,  that  Ibme  of  the  interior  Britons  were  tillers  of 
the  ground.  The  maritim-e  Britons,  however,  were  more  generally  employed  in  agri- 
culture. Such  were  the  Beigae,  who  Icttled  as  a  nation  to  the  eafi  of  Devonfliire  ;  though 
great  numbers  of  thrfc  continental  intrudci-s  had  incorporated  with  the  Danmonians.  The 
Danmonians,  in  the  mean  time  had,  douhtlefs,  adopted  all  thofe  modes  of  cultivating  the 
ground,  which  ingenuity  would  dictate,  or  the  practice  of  their  neighbours  would  preient 
to  obfervation ;  though  they  retained  their  original  love  of  change,  ftill  fliifting  their 
habitations  from  place  to  place,  as  the  pafturing  of  their  cattle  required.  And  the  atten- 
tion of  this  people,  feems  to  have  judicioufly  divided  between  paft-irage  and  agriculture: 
Whilft  the  Danmonians  fow  the  neighbouring  nations,  fome  for  the  moft  part  occupied 
by  the  former,  and  others  by  the  latter;  they  reconciled  both  in  themfelves.  Of  a  Dan- 
monian  farm,  therefore,  a  certain  portion  of  ground  was,  probably,  allotted  to  the  feed- 
ing of  cattle,  notwithftanding  the  extenfive  range  of  the  neighbouring  downs  or  com- 
mons ;  though  the  greater  part  was  tilled  with  corn,  for  the  provifion  of  the  family.  The 
farm-houfe  of  the  Danmonians,  leems  not  to  have  been  deficient  in  articles  of  conve- 
nience.    If  the  Britons,  as  Mr.  Whitaker  informs  us,  had  bee-hives  near  the  manfions 

of 

{a)  See  Whltaker's  Mancheder.  ih)  "  Belgas  Jlenhm  ct  mzntofum  ilium  terra  tra^lum—Exmoov 
—in  Occident c,  in-vadere  I'cl  jubigcre  I'olu'fj'e^  nullam  -veri  jpectem  p>a  fe  fat ;  Jed  tantum  agri  Somerfet- 
er.fi%  illam  in  occidente  ■vallcm,  qua  Us,  c'ltra  montts  ad  Dunftar  ufque  pertinens.,  omni  fere  tfvo  grata, 
falubris  et  jucunda  fuit,  agrico'.aque  -vote  rcfpondem.'"  Mufgrave,  from  whom  this  pafiage  is  taken, 
judges  of  Exmoor,  in  tlie  Britifii  Period,  fiom  its  appearance  at  the  prefent  day  :  But  this  judgment 
jis  erroneous.  (c)  See  thelVth  Se(aion. 


loz  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

of  their  chiefs,  and  near  their  farm-houfes,  we  can  hardly  avoid  giving  them  credit  for 
eveiy  comfortable  accommodation.  AVhilll  the  houfe  was  guarded  by  the  Britiih  maftiff, 
the  wild  boar  of  the  Danmonian  woods  had  become  a  peaceful  inhabitant  of  the  farm- 
yard ;  the  cow  was  ready  with  her  fupplies  of  milk ;  aud  the  horfe  had,  alio,  palled  into 
Servitude.  The  Danmonian  horfes,  however,  mull  have  frequently  run  wild  in  the  woods 
and  mountains.  They  are  exprefsly  deicribed  by  the  Romans,  as  at  once  diminutive  in 
their  lize,  and  fwift  in  their  motions  :(«)  And  the  breed  ftill  iubliils  in  the  little  horfes 
of  Exmoor  and  I>artmoor,  as  well  as  thofe  of  Wales  and  Cornwall.  As  to  the  Danmo- 
nian modes  of  cultivating  the  ground,  we  camiot  expeft  much  information.  Pliny  tells 
vs,  that  the  Britons  manure  theii-  ground  with  niarle,  inftead  of  dung :  And  what  Pliny 
knew  relating  to  this  iiland,  was,  probably,  coUefted  from  the  Danmonian  merchants. 
It  feems,  that  a  variety  of  marles  was  ufed  by  the  Britons  as  well  as  Romans,  in  manures  -. 
And  lea-fand  was  employed  in  the  weftern  counties,  as  at  the  prefent  day.(*)  With 
refpeCl  to  the  procefs  of  the  Britiih  hulbandry,  it  would  be  fruitlefs  to  enquire.  I  can- 
not but  remark,  indeed,  that  Diodorus  Siculus  mentions  the  Britons  as  hou/jng  their 
com  ;  which  feems,  at  tliis  moment,  to  be  the  cuftom  in  Devonflure,  though  not  in  many 
other  counties. (f)  In  the  paiVage  (^)  to  which  I  allude,  the  Britons  are  faid  to  lay  up 
their  corn  in  caverns :  And  the  people  of  Devonlliire  have,  in  many  places,  barns  capa- 
cious enough  for  their  corn.  In  the  more  eaftern  counties,  however,  the  corn  is  chiefly 
preferved  in  mows  in  the  open  air.  After  the  partition  of  lands,  the  woods  and  coppi- 
ces were  confidered  as  aiiother  part  of  the  ellate  :  And  they  were  a  valuable  pai-t  of  it. 
Though  Danmonium  abounded  with  woods,  perhaps  we  had  no  great  variety  of  foreft 
trees.  The  number  of  our  indigenous  trees  were  k\K.  Caefar  intimates,  that  the  beech 
and  the  fir  were  ftrangers  to  our  woods.  But  Mr.  Whitaker  thinks,  from  its  Britifli 
appellation,  Gius  in  Scotland,  G'lianhus  in  Ireland,  and  Fynniduj/th  in  Wales,  that  the  fir 
w^as  a  native  of  Britain.  The  firs  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  are  often  noticed  in  the  poems 
of  Olllan.  And  the  fir,  though  no  longer  growing  wild  in  Devonfhjre  or  Cornwall,  has 
been  found  among  liibterraneous  fubltances  in  both  counties  ;  particularly  on  the  Bovey- 
Heathrield,  where  it  lies  imbedded  in  the  clay,  and  from  its  refmous  quality  and  the 
nature  of  its  grain,  is  evidently  the  fir-tree.  In  the  mean  time,  the  beech  was  certainly 
not  a  native  of  the  idand.     And  it  is,  at  this  mo-.nent,  very  fcarce  in   Devonfliire.  {e) 

Among 

f^)  Die,  p.  12S0.  {b)  Whitakei's  Mandiefter. 

(f)  The  Belga  of  Devonthire  were  in  poflcflTion  of  the  Gallic  inilrument  of  threfhing  before  tlie 
Romans  :   They  were  well  acquainted  with  the  ufe  of  our  flail.     IFhiiaicr. 

{d)  Diodorus  (i)  tells  us,  tliat,  from  their  fubterraneous  granaries,  they  took  as  much  as  was 
neceffary  for  the  d.iy,  and  having  dried  the  ears;  beat  the  grain  from  them,  which  they  bruifed,  and 
made  into  a  fort  of  bread  for  prelent  ufe.  (2) 

(e)  It  has  been  a  fubjedl  of  difpute  among  natur.jlifts,  whether  the  Tew  is  an  indigenous  or  exotic 
plant.  That  it  was  indigenous,  I  have  fcarcj'y  a  doubt.  In  feveral  parts  of  Devonshire,  yew-trees 
are  now  flourlfhing,  of  the  plantation  of  whicli  we  have  no  memorial.  In  Scotland,  it  was  certainly 
indigenous.  "  Lift  thy  terrible  fword  !  Bend  thy  crooked  Teiv  !  Throw  thy  lance  through  heaven  ! 
Lift  your  fhields,  like  the  darkened  moon  1  Be  your  fpears  the  meteors  of  death  l'"  A  correfpondent, 
l(owever,  writes :  "  I  have  never  feen  the  yew-tree  growing  in  this  country,  except  where  planted : 
It  has,  in  many  inftances,  proved  f  jtal  to  cattle  :  At  a  funeral,  feme  years  fnice,  in  a  neighbouring 
parilh,  two  or  three  horfes  were  killed  by  eating  it,  being  as  is  fuppofed,  forced  by  hunger.  The 
«Jeleterlous  efTedts  of  this  plant  were  well  known  to  the  ancients:  Caefar  knew  the  poACr  of  yew. 
As  I  do  not  recoUeiS  having  feen  the  pailage  quoted,  it  fiinll  find  a  place  here.  Cati-vuuu!,  rex  dmidia 
partis  Eburonum,  qui  una  cum  Ambior,gc  cnfilium  iricrat,  a'tatc  jam  confcSus,  quu.m  labcrem  aut  belli  out 
fuga:  fcrre  r.on  fojj'ctf  omnibus  Jirecibus  detcj}a:us  AiMorige:n  qui  ejus  corfilii  auHor  fuijfet,  taxo,  cujus 
znagna  in  Gallia  Germaniaque  c.bia  cji,  Je  exanima'vlt.     A  yew-tree  is  ftlU  found  in  almort  all  our 

church-yards. 

^1  "  Kst/  ^r,'TX'Jfi^O)nm  Sir.  "  In  Brittannia,  fi  valuit,  quod  in  Cappadocia  et  Thracia  ufus  intrgduxciat  ut 
frumentum  in  fpeciibus  abdcrcnt,  proba  vulgata  eft."  Varto  I.  R.  R.C.57.  •'  Quidam  granaria  habent  fubterris,  fpeluncas 
«i.a5  vorant  a'iiCiSS,  ut  in  Cappadocia  et  Thracia.  Alii,  ut  in  Hlfpaaia  citcriore,  puteos,  ut  in  agro  Carthaginicnfi  et 
Ofccnfi."     Not.  Diod.  Wefs.  T.I.  p.  347- 

(2'  Some  vefti;;c«  of  this  ancient  w.iy  of  drefling  corn,  were  difrovered  not  long  ago  in  feveral  of  the  idands  of  Scotland. 
»"  This  method  is  called  Graddan,  from  the  irifli  word  Crad,  which  figiiifics  quick.  A  woman  fitting  dmvn,  takes  a  hand- 
ful of  corn,  hildiPi-  1'.  by  the  ftjlks  in  the  left  hand,  and  then  fcts  fire  to  the  ears,  which  are  prcfently  in  a  flame  :  fhe  has  a 
fcii  k  in  her  ri-^ht  hai.d,  which  fhe  manages  very  dextcroiiny,  beating  out  the  grain  at  the  inftaiit  the  hufk  isqtiite  burnt,  for 
if  file  inif»  of  that  (he  muft  ufe  tlie  kiln  ;  but  experience  h?s  taught  them  this  ait  to  pcrfeaion.  The  corn  may  be  fo  dtcffed, 
vcinowcd.  groiir.d,  aiul  balked -.vithin  an  hour."     Martin"'  Defctip.  of  the  weftern  iflands  of  Scotland,  p.  204. 


The     BRITISH     PERIOD.  loj 

Among  the  fnut- trees  of  Daiimonium,  the  apple  was,  undoubtedly,  Britifli.  In  the 
Cornilh,  the  Irilh,  the  Welch  and  the  Armorican,  it  is  invariably  denominated'the /7a;fl// 
or  aball:  And  it  leems  to  have  been  brought  into  Devonlhire  by  the  firft  colonies.  The 
avallonja,  or  the  apple-orckard  of  the  Hadui  (the  prefent  Icite  of  Glaftonbury)  is  men- 
tioned by  Richard.  ¥o\{a)  other  fruit-trees,  it  is  difficult  to  fay,  whether  they  were 
indigenous  or  not.  Though  the  Britiih  garden  was  chiefly  compol'ed  of  frait-trees  •  yet 
the  orchard,  and  the  flower  and  kitchen  garden,  were  all  united  in  one.  And  o-ardens 
near  the  Britiili  houfes,  in  the  fouthern  counties,  are  remarked  by  Strabo.((!')     " 

Oblcure  and  unfatisfa^toiy  as  thel'e  accounts  of  the  Danmonian  pafl:uracr'e  and  a^ricul 
ture  are,  we  may  be  affured,  that  this  illand  was  remarkable  for  its  fertility  In  very  ancient 
times.     In  forae  of  the  earlieft  notices  of  Britain  by  the  Greeks,  the  ifland,  or  rather 
Danmoniurn,  is  celebrated  us  prchfic  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth.    Orpheus  called' this  ifland 
the  royal  court  of  Ceres.     In  after  times,  Strabo(0  and  (c/)Diodorus  Siculus,  ao-reed  in 
then-  reports  ot  its  fertihty  :  And  thefe  authors  drew  their  materials  from  Greek^oora 
phers  and  hillorians,  who  lived  long  before  Cacfar.     That  Danmoniurn  could  have  pro" 
duced  trurts  m  fuch  abundance,  without  human  ingenuity  and  human  labor,  lono-  and 
perfeveringly  exerted  in  the  cultivation  of  it,  is  impoffible  to  be  conceived.     Its  uncom 
mon  feitility,  therefore,  leads  us  to  think,  that  it  muft  have  been  very  early  known  to 
the  oriental  nations. (f) 

The  general  principle  of  fertilitj'  in  ever>-  country,  is  the  application  of  man  :  by  which 
the  beneficial  productions  that  naturally  fpring  up,  may  be  freed  from  every  hnpediment 
to  their  growth,  and  removed  into  more  genial  fituations,  and  bv  which  the  fruits  of  one 
countiy  may  be  tranlplanted  and  cultivated  with  luccefs  in  another.  If  this  were  not  the 
cafe,  mankind  could  not  have  fpread  over  the  face  of  the  earth  :  and  the  far  o-reater  part 
of  the  world  would  liave  remained  in  a  ftate  of  nature.  The  capacitj'  of  producing-  ^^i,en 
direfted  by  flcill  and  lupported  by  labor,  certainly  extends  the  bounties  of  providence 
and  meliorates  even  the  moll  ungrateful  foils  and  climates.  But  thefe  happy  effefts  are 
produced,  only  in  a  courie  of  time.  Danmoniurn  was,  at  hi  ft,  3.  vjiUernefs.  Nor  did  it 
htcomc  the  court  of  Ceres,  till  after  the  lapfe  of  ages.  ([/^ 

church-yards,     rhrec  reafons  may  be  afllgned  for  their  fituation  :  TI,e/r/?  is,  that  before  the  inven 
tion  of  gunpowder,  the  warrior  might  never  be  at  a  lofs  for  a  bow.    The  fcccnd  is,  its  beine  an  ever* 
green,  and  as  fuch,  an  emblem  of  immortality.     The  third  motive  which  may  be  fuppofed  to  have 
induced  mankind  to  plant  the  yew  in  church-yards,  is  the  idea  of  its  being  endued  with  a  power  to 
attract  to  itfelf  the  noxious  particles  that  may  arife  from  dead  bodies  :  This  lafl  opinion  has  been  of 
late  much  ftrengthened  by  the  experiment  of  Dr.  Prieftley,  who  has  difcovered,  that  erowine  veee 
tables  are  wonderfully  eft'edtuai  in  the  purification  of  foul  air.'^     Mr.  Corrljh,  oi --rotr.^s    In  a  let"ter 
to  the  author.      A  fourth  reafon  has  been  given.     The  Yew,  we  are  told,  was 'there 'planted    to 
prevent  the  mtroduftion  of  cattle  into  facred  ground  :  But  this  is  Improbable.    Tlie  poculiar'  gloom 
iNEss  of  the  Yew,  and  the  diadliness  of  its  poisok,  ieems  to  fuggefl  the  propriety  of  Its  fitua" 
tion,  more  ftrongly  than  all.  r    v      i        ^->  "lua- 

{a)  "The  Dan:hn  (fays  Mr.  Wiitaker)  had  been  long  taken  from  the  vicinity  of  Its  native  Damaf- 
CU3,  and  accuftomed  to  the  foil  of  Italy,  when  the  Romans  took  po/Teflion  of  this  ifland  •  And  the 
Brxtljh  appelLuion  of  it,  Danfr:,-.  or  Damfn,  remaining  among  the  IrJ},  and  cur(elfc'  denotes  it  m 
have  been  introduced  into  Britam  by  tlie  Romans  "  But  the  .,,^.  of  this  fruit  remaining  among 
the  Irijh,  by  no  nieans  proves  its  introdudion  into  Britain  by  the  Romans.  I  mould  draw  a  different 
conclulion  from  this  circumftance  The/.^ob  was,  probably,  tranfplanted  from  Its  own  Perfia  InVo 
Britain.  {b)  p.  306.  (c)  Geor.  lib.  3,  p.  200.  [d)  lib.  5,  p  200 

_  (0  The  fertUity  of  this  ifland.  In  the  Bntifli  Period,  as  the  Ingenious  and  learn-d  Dr  Camohell 
intimates,  is  a  crtain  pr.of  that  It  was  inhabited  long  before  our  antiquarians  have  thoueht  prooer 
to  colonize  it.  "luu^m  proper 

.  ^/>!  "^''"  ^.^^^^'  R^'^'5^  ''^P°'^='  ^"^^^  "^^  Spaniards,  in  fome  parts  of  America,  fcarcely  proceeded 
into  the  Contment  ten  m,Us  m  ten  year,;  which  it  they  (with  all  neceflarv  Inflrumentsl  could  nor 
do,  how  can  we  expeft,  that  in  the  firft  ages  after  the  deluge,  colonies  could  eo  on  fo  fail  when  th^v 
were  to  encounter  with  no  lefs  ditSculties,  and  had  not  the  fame  means  to  overcome  them  And  ,f 
by  this  meafure  we  fliould  calculate  the  progrefs  of  the  firft  planters,  we  might  not  be  far  out  of  the 
way;  but  certamly  as  Europe  extends  m    ength  loCCCC  German  miles,  fo  we  might  modeftlj 

America.       iammei  BnUir.ti.  Antiqu.  lliuflr,  f.^.  ^  ^^^  m 


SECTION 


104  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

SECTION     VI. 

;7£r  oj  MINING  in  DANMONIUM,  during  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  S^uarries — Tin-Jhoding — Streavting — Veji'tges  of  Tin-Works  in  different  parts  ofDe'vonJhire 
— Lead— Iron — Gold — Sil-ver. — II.  Preparation  of  tkefe  Metals  for  Ufe. — III.  Co7idufion. 

WE  have  leen  the  Danmoniaiis  palhu-ing  their  cattle  and  cultivating  their  grounds—- 
the  moll  natural  employment  of  man.  But  there  is  reaibn  to  iuppole,  that  their 
attention  was  not  long  confined  to  the  vegetable  produftions  of  the  earth.  The  Abori- 
gines of  this  country  poffella  fpirit  of  relearch,  which  led  to  new  purfuits  and  prompted 
new  dilcoveries  :  And  Danmonium  was  now  to  be  explored  foi-  mineral  tjeafures.  The 
ule,  indeed,  of  leveral  kinds  of  Hone,  which  met  their  eye,  either  fcattered  on  the  furface  of 
the  o-romid,  or  imbedded  in  the  foil,  or  in  vaiious  other  htuations,  was  as  obvious  as  that 
of  the  timber  which  their  woodlands  liipplied.  The  ilate  and  the  moor-ftone,  particularly 
the  latter,  were  of  this  defcription.  Thus  the  working  of  a  quarry  was  Ibou  an  unavoid- 
able labor:  And  there  was  an  eaiy  tranfition  from  the  quany  to  the  mine.  To  conduft, 
however,  the  Danmonians,  ftep  by  Hep,  to  the  mines,  is  needlefs  :  For,  though  the  ule 
of  ftone  feems  more  obvious  than  that  of  metals,  the  latter  were  procured,  perhaps,  with 
as  little  trouble  in  Danmonium.  («)     This,  at  leall,  feems  to  have  been  the  cafe  with  the 

Danmonian 

(a)  On  the  difcovery  of  Mines,  Dr.  Prycc  exi)atiates  thns :  "  Lucretius,  who  afcribes  the  firft 
difcovery  of  Metals  to  the  burning  down  of  woods,  fays,  that  the  heat  of  the  flames  melted  the 
Metals,  which  were  difperfed  here  and  there  in  the  veins  of  the  earth,  and  made  them  tlo.v  into 

one  mafs  -. 

Whatever  'twas  that  gave  thefe  flames  their  hirtli, 
Which  burnt  the  tow'ring  trees,  and  fcorch'd  the  eartli  5 
Hot  ftreams  of  Silver,  Gold,  and  Lead,  and  Brafs, 
As  nature  gave  a  hollow,  proper  place, 
Defcended  down,  and  lorm'd  a  gUtt'ring  mafs. 
This  when  unhappy  mortals  chancd  to  fpy, 
And  the  gay  colour  pleas'd  their  childifli  eye ; 
They  dug  the  certain  caufe  of  mifery. 
Cadmus,  the  Pheniclan,  is,  by  fome,  faid  to  have  been  the  firft  who  difcovered  Gold  ;  others  fay, 
that  Thoas  firft  found  it,  in  the  mountahi  Pangsus  in  Thrace :    the  Chronicon  Alcxandrinum, 
afcribes  it  to  Mercury,  the  Ton  of  Jupiter;  or  to  Pifus,  king  of  Italy,  who  quitting  his  own  country- 
went  into  £gyp: ;  where,  after  the  death  of  Mifraim,  tlie  fon  of  Cham,  he  was  eleded  to  fucceed 
him  in  the  royal  dignity,  and,  for  the  invention  of  Gold,  w.is  called  the  Golden  God.     ^fchylus 
attributes  the  invention  of  this,  and  all  other  Metals,  to  Prometheus :  and  there  ai  e  others  who  write, 
that  either  .^^aclis,  whom  Hyginus  calls  Caacus  the  fon  of  Jupiter,  or  Sol  the  fon  of  Oceanus,  firft 
difcovered  Gold  in  Panchaia.     Ariftotle  fays,  that  fome  iTiepherds  in  Spain  having  fet  fire  to  certain 
woods,  and  heated  the  fiibftance  of  the  earth,  the  filver  that  was  near  the  furface  of  it,  melted,  and 
flowed  together  In  a  heap ;  and  thnt  a  little  while  after  there  happened  an  earthqi:ake,  which  cleaved 
the  earth,  and  difclofed  a  vaft  profufion  of  filver.     This  is  confirmed  by  Strabo,  lib.  iii.  and  Athe- 
r.seus,  lib.  vi.  who  fay,  that  the  Mines  in  Andalufia  were  difcovered  by  this  accident.     Cinyra  the 
fon  of  Agryopa,  firft  found  out  the  Brafs  (Copper)  Mines  in  Cyprus  j    and  the  difcovery  of  Iron 
Mines  Hefiod  afcribes  to  thofe  in  Crete  who  were  called  Dafryli  IHa:i :  and  Midacritus  was  the  firft 
man  that  brought  Lead  (Tin)  out  of  the  ifland  Cafliteris.    (Lucretius,  Pliny,  Pclydore  Virgil).    We 
ihall  clofe  this  ancient  account  of  the  firft  difcovery  of  Metals,  with  the  following  lines  from  Dr. 
Gartli's  Difpenfary. 

Now  thofe  profounder  regions  they  explore, 
Where  Metals  ripen  in  vaft  cakes  of  Ore. 
Here,  fullen  to  the  fight,  at  brge  is  fpread, 
The  dull  un-.'  eildy  njafs  of  lumpiih  Lead  ; 
There,  glimmering  in  their  dawning  beds,  are  feen 
The  more  afpiring  feeds  of  fprightly  tin  ; 
The  Copper  fparkles  next  in  ruddy  ftreaks. 
And  in  the  gloom  betrays  its  glowing  cheeks. 
Mines  have  been  often  difcovered  by  accident,  as  in  the  fea  cliffs,  among  broken  craggy  rocks,  of 
■by  the  wafhing  of  the  tides  or  floods ;  liktwife  by  irruptions  and  torrents  of  water  ifl"uing  cut  oi  hills 
and  mountains ;  and  fomelime.j  by  the  wearing  of  high  ro:ids.    Another  v/ay  of  finding  veins,  which 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  105 

Danraonian  tin  and  lead.     The  Moina-Staine  or  the  Danmonian  Tin-mines,  were  not 
deep  mines,  as  at  the  prefent  day.    The  greater  part  of  the  tin  produced  in  Damnonium, 

before 

we  have  heard  from  thofe  whofe  veracity  w«  are  unwUling  to  queftion,  Is  by  igneous  appearances, 
or  fiery  corulcationi.  The  Tinners  gtnerally  compare  thefe  effluvia  to  blazing  ftars,  or  other  wliim- 
fical  likenefles,  as  their  fears  or  hopes  fuggert  ;  and  fearch,  with  uncamnrvon  eagemefs.  the  ground 
which  thefe  jack  o'lanthoms  have  appeared  over  and  pointed  out.  We  have  fieard  but  little  of  thefe 
phenomena  for  many  years :  whether  it  be,  that  the  prefent  age  is  lefs  credulous  than  the  foregoing  j 
or  that  the  ground  being  mote  perforated  by  innumerable  new  pits  funk  every  year,  feme  of  which 
by  the  Stannary  laws  are  prohibited  from  being  hlJed  up,  has  given  thefe  vapours  a  more  gradual 
vent;  it  is  not  necelFary  to  enquire,  as  the  faift  >tfe]f  is  not  generally  believed.  The  arc  of  Mining, 
however,  does  not  wait  for  thefe  favourable  incidents,  but  direftly  goes  upon  the  fearch  and  difco- 
very  of  fuch  Mineral  Veins,  Ores,  Stones,  &c.  as  "may  be  worth  the  working  for  Meul.  The  prin- 
cipal invertigation  and  difcovery  of  Mines,  depends  upon  a  particular  fagacity,  or  acquired  habit  of 
judging  from  particular  figns,  tiiat  metallick  matters  are  contained  in  certain  parts  of  the  earth,  not 
far  below  its  furface.  But,  as  ignorance  and  credulity  are  the  portions  of  the  illiterate,  we  have 
people  conflantly  in  fearch  for  Tin,  where  our  dreaming  geniufes  direct  them  to  follow  after  the 
images  of  wild  fancy;  confequentjy,  we  have  z  Hud-dream  in  every  Mining  parifli,  v. liich  raifes 
and  difappoints  by  turns  the  fanguine  hopes  of  tbe  credulous  adventurers — Mines  are  ahb  difcovered 
by  the  harfh  difagreeable  tafle  of  the  waters  which  iffue  from  them,  efpecially  thofe  of  Copper:  but 
this  feems  to  be,  only  when  the  Ore  is  above  the  level  at  which  the  water  breaks  out;  for,  other- 
wife,  it  is  unlikely  that  the  water  fhould  participate  of  much  impreflion  or  quality  from  the  Ore  that 
is  underneath  it,  or  untouched  by  It.  A  better  expedient  to  find  whether  the  water  is  impregnated 
with  Copper,  is  to  Immerge  a  piece  of  bright  Iron  in  it,  for  two  or  three  days  ;  in  which  time,  the 
Iron  will  look  of  a  Copper  colour,  provided  the  v  ater  is  of  a  cupreous  quality,  or  at  leafl  contains  a 
certain  fhare  of  vitriolick  acid  :  further,  if  fomeAqua  Fortis  be  affufed  to  a  little  of  this  water,  in  a 
clear  phial,  it  will  prefently  exhibit  a  bluifh  green  colour,  either  fainter  or  fuller  according  as  it  is 
impregnated  with  the  acid  of  vitriol.  A  candle  or  piece  of  tallow  put  into  the  fame  water  for  a  few 
days,  may  be  taken  out  tinged  oi  a  green  colour. — Hoofon  fays,  that  "  the  firft  inventor  of  the  Vir- 
gula  Divinatoria,  was  hanged  in  Germany  as  a  cheat  and  impoftor :"  on  the  other  hand.  Dr.  Diede- 
rick  WeHcl  LlndcQ  fays,  in  anfv.  er  to  him,  that  "  Dr.  Stahl,  when  he  was  prefident  of  a  chemical 
fociety  in  his  country,  publlftied  a  reward  of  twenty-five  ducates  for  any  one  that  could  prove  who 
was  the  inventor  of  the  Virgula  Divinatoria."  It  is  iinpoflible  to  afcertain  the  date  or  perlonallty  of 
this  difcovery,  wlilch  appears  to  me  of  very  httle  confequence  to  pofterity  :  but  perhaps  we  may  not 
be  far  off  from  tiie  truth,  if  we  incline  to  the  opinion  of  Georglus  Agriccla,  in  his  excellent  latin 
treatife  De  Re  Mitaltka,  that  "  the  application  of  the  inchanted  or  divining  rod  to  raetalHck  matters, 
took  its  rife  from  magicians,  and  the  impure  fountains  of  inchantment."  Now  the  ancients  not  only 
endeavoured  to  procure  tliC  neceiraries  of  life  by  a  divining  or  inchanted  rod,  but  alfo  to  change  the 
forms  of  things  by  the  fame  Inftrument:  for  the  magicians  of  Egypt,  as  we  learn  from  the  Hebrew 
writings,  changed  their  rods  into  ferpents;  and,  in  Homer,  Minerva  turned  UJy/Tes  when  old  into 
the  hkenefs  of  a  young  man,  and  again  to  his  former  appearance  :  Circe  alfo  ciianged  the  companions 
of  Ulyffes  into  beafls,  and  again  rcflcred  them  to  the  human  fhape ;  and  Mercury,  wi  h  his  rod  called 
Caduceus,  gave  fleep  to  the  wakeful,  and  awakened  thofe  that  were  alleep.  And  hence,  In  all  pro- 
bability, arofe  the  application  of  the  forked  rod  to  the  difcovery  of  hidden  treafure."  p.  iii  to.i  4. 
"  Another  way  01  difcovering  Lodes  is  by  finking  little  pits  t!-.rough  the  loofe  ground,  down  to  the 
faft  or  folld  country,  from  fix  to  twelve  feet  deep,  and  driving  from  one  to  another  acrofs  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Vein ;  fo  that  they  n.uft  necelfarily  meet  with  every  Vein  lying  within  the  extent  of  thefe 
pits;  for  moft  of  them  come  up  as  high  as  the  fuperficles  of  the  firm  rock,  and  fometlmes  a  fmali 
matter  above  it.  Ihis  way  of  feeking,  the  Tinners  call  CcJIeenirg,  from  Ccthas  Stcan  ;  that  Is, 
fallen  or  dropt  tin. — Another  and  very  ancient  method  of  difcovering  Tin  Lodes,  is  by  what  we  call 
ShsJeing;  that  is,  tracing  them  home  by  loofe  flones,  fragn.cnts,  or  Shodes  (from  the  Teutonick 
Shutten  to  pour  forth)  whicii  have  been  feparated,  and  carried  off,  perhaps,  to  a  coiifiderable  dif- 
tance  from  the  Vein,  and  are  found  by  chance  in  running  water-,  on  the  fuperficles  of  the  ground, 
or  a  little  under. — When  the  Tinners  meet  with  a  loofe  fmgle  Ifone  of  ;  in  Ore,  either  in  a  valley, 
or  in  plowing,  or  hedging,  though  at  a  hundred  fathoms  diltance  from  the  Vein  it  came  from  ;  thofe 
who  are  accuftomed  to  this  work,  will  not  fail  to  find  it  out.  They  confider,  that  a  metallick  ficne 
muft  have  originally  apperulned  to  fome  Vein,  from  which  it  v/as  fevered  and  ca.i  at  a  diftance  by 
fome  violent  means.  The  deluge,  they  fuppofe,  moved  moft  of  the  loofe  earthy  coat  of  the  globe; 
and,  in  many  places,  wafhed  it  off  from  the  upper,  towards  the  lower  grounds,  with  fuch  a  force, 
that  mofl  of  the  backs  of  Lodes  or  Veins  which  protruded  themfelves  above  the  faft,  were  hurried 
downwards  v/ith  the  common  niafs  :  v.'hence  the  Ikill  in  this  part  of  their  bufinefs,  lies  much  in 
dire<5ling  their  meafures  according  to  the  fiti;ation  of  the  fuiface. — Up.  n  the  top  of  moft  Tin  Lodes, 
in  the  fhelf  or  flratum  under  the  loofe  mould  and  rubbifh  of  the  earth,  is  that  mineralized  fubftance, 
which  is  called  the  BroyU  ox  BryU  of  the  Lode.    Though  it  is  a  part  of  the  Lode,  yet  it  is  dliferent 

O  in 


lo6  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

before  the  time  of  the  Romans,  was,  probably,  from  Skode  and  Stream.  "  Tin  (faya 
Dr.  Borlale)  is  found  difieminated  on  tlie  fides  of  hills,  in  fingle  ftones,  which  we  call 

Shades, 

Jn  fituation  and  appearance  from  all  other  parts  of  it;  forafmuch  as  it  is  not  confined  between  two 
walls,  the  ilratuni  ^o  near  the  furface  being  of  a  more  lax  tender  text\ire,  than  in  the  folid  rock  a 
fathom  or  two  under  it.  The  Brylt,  therefore,  is  very  loofe,  and  in  fome  places  fcarcely  metallick, 
for  want  of  depth,  and  of  thofe  lateral  chinks  and  cracks,  which  feed  and  nourifh  the  Lode,  at  deeper 
levels,  with  Mineral  principles  educed  from  the  ftrata  of  the  earth — Such  is  the  Bryie  of  a  Lode  : 
confequently,  when  t!ie  waters  of  the  deluge  retired  into  their  refervoir,  great  part  of  the  Er)'les  of 
Lodes  were  carried  off  by  the  force  of  the  waters  to  various  diftances,  according  to  the  gravity  of 
Shode  Stones,  and  the  declination  of  the  plane  upon  which  they  were  difperfed.  Tinners  who 
defcribe  this  diQribution  of  Shode,  to  make  it  more  eafily  underftood,  compare  it  to  a  bucket  of  water 
difcharged  upon  the  declivity  of  a  hill ;  near  the  bucket,  it  will  t.ake  up  but  a  fmall  fpace ;  but  as  it 
defcends,  will  fpread  wider,  in  the  manner  of  a  truncated  cone.  Hence  it  is  manifell  to  reafon  and 
experience,  that  the  more  diftant  Shodes  are  from  the  Bryle  of  the  Lcde,  the  more  diverged  they  are, 
and  fewer  in  number;  and,  by  parity  of  reafoning,  they  are  more  in  quantity  near  to  the  Bry/e,  and 
are  colle<5tively  in  lefs  fpace.  Neverthelefs,  in  fome  certain  fnuations,  they  are  in  greater  quantities 
In  vallies,  than  on  the  tops  or  fides  of  hills ;  but  fuch  are  fnialler,  and  more  eafily  carried  down  by 
water,  and  formed  into  ftrata,  which  furnilhes  our  flream  works.  In  level  ground,  they  are  found 
fcarcely  removed  from  the  Bryle;  but  on  a  declivity,  they  are  always  found  difperfed  on  the  fides  of 
the  hill,  at  a  greater  or  lefs  diftance,  in  proportion  to  the  length  or  declivity  thereof,  and  their  own 
fpecific  weight:  confequently,  the  heavieft  ftones  are  nearell  to  the  Lode,  and  the  lighter  are  pro- 
truded to  a  greater  diftance  (even  to  five  miles  diltance,  as  it  is  faid  in  Philofop.  T<-,itiJa&lcr.i  No.  69) 
which  are  alfo  nearer  to  the  foil,  by  means  oi  their  levity  and  fize ;  while  the  more  grofs  and  weighty 
lie  deeper  interred  as  they  are  nearer  the  Lode.  It  is  almoft  needlefs  to  obferve,  that  as  the  texture, 
gravity,  and  black  or  brown  colours  of  Tin  Shodes,  are  different  from  all  others ;  fo  they  are  thereby 
known  and  diftinguiflied,  as  well  as  by  the  frnoothiiefs  of  them  a  great  diftance  from  the  Lode,  and 
the  acutenefs  of  their  angles  when  near  to  it :  which  entirely  depends  upon  the  trituration  they  have 
undergone,  rolling  over  rough  furfaces,  by  the  force  of  water,  and  the  attrition  of  other  bodies  pafling 
over  them. — Henckell  and  Rofler  fay,  "  That  Mundick  Shode  is  very  common  ;  and  that  Wolfram, 
Granate,  and  Iron  Corns,  nay  Quickfilver,  are  found  in  Sliode  and  Stream."  "  All  of  which," 
Henckeil  further  fays,  "  were  wafiied  and  torn  away  from  their  Veins,  by  the  violence  of  the  Noa- 
chia-i  deluge." — Copper  and  Lead  Shodes  are  very  feldom  met  with ;  yet  fuch  there  are.  Their 
JBryles  being  chiefly  compofed  of  tender  uninetallick  GcJ/a/i,  are  not  fo  well  difpofed  for  bearing  that 
force  and  attrition,  as  the  more  Aony  matter  of  Tin  Lodes  are;  and  the  former  generally  is  not 
mineralized  into  Copper  Ore  at  the  Bryle. — It  is  a  miflake  in  thofe  who  deny  the  exifteiice  of  any 
other  bhode  but  Tin  :  So  far  from  it,  every  hard  Oratum  of  the  earth  which  is  uppermou,  will  fhew 
us  numbers  of  their  Shodes  difperfed  from  them  at  a  diflance,  and  reclined  upon  Arata  of  quite  diffe- 
rent natures,  as  hills  and  vallies  are  fituated  to  help  forward  or  retain  thofe  rocky  fragments.  I  think 
cur  diffindt  loofe  Moorftone,  or  Granite  rocks,  upon  the  fides,  and  at  the  bottoms  of  our  mountains, 
are  the  Shodes  of  their  flrata  underneath;  and  many  large  Shodes  of  Ireffone  are  to  be  feen,  though 
In  lefs  plenty,  difperfed  upon  KiL'js  ftrata  at  a  diflance  from  their  parent  rock :  all  of  which  are  in- 
conteftible  witnelTes  of  thofe  violent  conquaffations  and  convuliions  of  our  country,  at  the  time  of 
the  flood. — It  is  much  to  be  lamented,  that  the  fcience  of  Shoding  is  greatly  loft  in  the  prefent  age. 
Among  all  our  Miners,  we  have  not  fifty,  who  fcientifically  or  experimentally  underf^and  any  thing 
of  the  matter ;  and  thcfe  that  are  intelligent  therein,  are  become  old  and  feeble ;  whereby  it  is  much 
to  be  feared,  that  this  ufeful,  and  1  think  improvejble  fcience,  is  in  danger  of  being  pradlically  loft. 
— Almolt  every  Lode  has  a  peculiar  coloured  earth  or  gravi  (grit)  about  it ;  which  is  alfo  fome- 
timts  found  with  the  Shoie,  and  that  in  greater  quantity,  the  nearer  the  Shode  lies  to  the  Lode  ; 
beyond  which  that  peculiar  greivt  is  feldom  found  with  the  Shode.  A  valley  may  happen  to  lie  at 
the  feet  of  three  fever.^1  hills,  and  then  tiiey  may  find  feveral  deads  greivt  or  earth  moved  by  the 
waters  of  the  deluge,  but  not  contiguous  to  the  Lode,  with  as  many  different  Shodes  in  the  middle 
of  each.  This  is  alfo  termed  the  Run  of  the  country  ;  and  here  the  knov.'ledge  of  the  cafl  of  the 
country,  or  each  hill  in  refpedt  of  its  greivt,  will  be  very  neceffary,  for  the  furer  tracing  them  one 
after  the  other  as  they  lie  in  order. —  Likewife,  when  the  Miners  find  a  good  Stone  of  0/e  or  Shode 
in  ihe  fide  or  bottom  of  a  hill,  they  fir't  of  all  obferve  the  fituation  of  the  neighbouring  ground,  and 
cor.fider  whence  the  deluge  could  molt  probably  roll  that  Stone  down  from  the  hill ;  and  at  the  fame 
tim-.'  they  form  a  fuppofition,  on  what  point  of  the  compafs  the  Lode  takes  its  courfe :  for  if  the 
Shode  be  'I'in,  or  Copper  Ore,  or  promifing  for  either,  they  conclude  tliat  the  Lode  runs  nearly  eaft 
and  weft ;  but  if  it  is  a  Shode  of  Lead  Ore,  they  have  equal  reafon  to  conclude  that  the  vein  goes 
north  and  fouth.  After  finding  the  firft  Stone  or  Shode,  they  fink  little  pits  as  low  as  the  faft  rub- 
ble (which  is  the  ruF  ble  or  clay  never  moved  fince  the  flood)  to  find  njore  fuch  Stones ;  and  if  they 
meet  with  them,  they  go  further  up  the  hill  in  the  fame  line,  or  a  little  obliquely  perhaps,  and  fink 
more  pits  ftUl,  while  they  find  Shode  Stones  in  them ,  but  they  feldom  fink  thofe  pits  deeper  than 

the 


The   BRITISH   PERIOD.  lo; 

Shbdes,  fometimesa  furlong  or  more  diftant  from  their  lodes;  And,  fometimes,  thefe  loofe 
ftones  are  found  together  in  grtut  numbers,  making  one  continued  courfe  from  one  to 

ten 

the  rubble  upon  the  Shelf,  except  they  are  near  the  Lode.  If  the  Shode  Is  found  in  the  vegetable 
foil,  the  Lode  is  not  at  hand ;  but  if  it  lies  deep,  malFy,  and  angular,  it  is  a  certain  fign  that  the  Lods 
is  not  far  off,  and  that  it  is  to  be  found  oppofite  to  the  bafe  or  heaviefl:  part  of  the  Stones.  The 
account  which  the  learned  Alvaro  Alonzo  Barba  gives  of  difcovering  Silver  Mines,  by  what  1  take  to 
be  Shoding,  is  very  much  like  mine,  a. id  is  as  follows,  p.  79.  "  The  Veins  of  AJet^l  are  fometimes 
found  by  great  Stones  above  grourd  5  and  if  the  Veins  be  covered,  they  hunt  them  out  after  this 
manner,  viz.  taking  ia  their  hands  a  fort  of  mattock  (a  pick)  which  hath  a  ftee!  point  nt  one  end  to 
dig  with,  and  a  blunt  head  at  the  other  to  break  ilones  with,  they  go  to  the  hollows  of  the  mown* 
tains,  where  the  downfall  of  rain  defcends,  or  to  fome  other  part  of  the  (kirts  of  the  mountains,  and 
there  obferve  what  Stones  they  meet  withal,  and  break  in  pieces  thofe  that  feem  to  have  any  metal 
in  them  ;  whereof  they  find  many  time:;  both  middling  fort  of  Stones,  and  fmali  ones  alfo  of  Metal. 
Then  they  confider  the  fituation  of  that  place,  and  whence  thefe  Stones  can  tumble,  which  of  necelHty 
muft  be  from  higher  ground,  and  follow  the  tradl  of  thefe  Stones  up  the  hill,  as  long  as  tiiey  can  tuvi 
any  of  them." — —But  to  return — As  they  advance  thus  nearer  the  Lode  with  their  pits,  they  find 
their  Shode  more  plentiful  and  deeper  in  the  ground  5  but  if  they  chance  to  go  further  from  the  Lode, 
or  pafs  the  yonder  fide  of  it,  there  is  a  greater  fcarcity  of  the  Shode,  or  perhaps  none  at  all :  in  which 
cafe,  they  return  to  their  lalt  pit  which  produced  Shode  molt  plentifully,  and  work  the  intermediate 
ground,  with  more  care  and  circumfpeition,  by  drifts  from  one  pit  to  t!ie  next,  until  they  cut  the 
Lode.  Sometimes  they  find  two  different  Shodes  in  the  fame  pit  at  different  depths ;  then  they  are 
fure,  that  there  is  another  Lode  further  on ;  and  in  training  up  to  the  fecond^  they  may  meet  with 
the  Shode  of  a  third.  However,  when  they  are  juft  come  to  the  Vein  they  fet  out  for,  they  find  an 
uncommon  quantity  of  Shode  Stones  anfwering  to  the  defcription  before  given,  and  then  they  fay, 
that  they  have  the  Brfh  of  the  Lode  ;  upon  which  they  dig  down  into  the  folid  hard  rock,  which 
was  never  moved  or  ioofened,  until  they  open  the  Lode,  and  find  its  breadth  by  the  walls  in  which 
it  is  enclofed.— Some  Lodes,  however,  are  fo  difpoled,  that  they  yield  no  Shode  at  all,  nor  are  they 
to  be  difcovered  in  a  good  depth  ;  which  may  happen  to  be  tlie  cafe  tor  feveral  reafons.  The  fitua- 
tion of  fome  places  might  have  preferved  their  Veins  from  having  their  furfaces  torn  up  and  difperfed 
by  the  flood  j  or  elfe  being  fo  much  torn  and  difturbed,  their  loofe  Bryle  might  have  been  totally 
carried  off  to  a  vaft  diltance,  towards  which  its  poverty  for  Metal  and  confequential  levity  might 
contribute ;  in  the  place  of  which,  a  fediment  or  earthy  part  might  have  fettled,  and  buried  the  Lodes 
fo  deep,  that  they  are  not  difcoverable  by  (hoding.  Again,  the  backs  of  fome  Veins  arc  deprefled,  and 
fo  deep  under  the  firm  folid  rock  which  lies  over  them,  that  they  do  make  a  rife  or  back  immediately 
up  to  the  loofe  ftone  or  earth;  that  is  to  fay,  fome  Lodes  make  no  back  at  all,  and  therefore  produce 
no  Shode,  fo  that  it  is  impofTible  to  difcover  them,  except  by  fome  favourable  accident,  of  which  I 
have  known  feveral  inflances. —  fhefe  different  difpofitions  of  the  ftrata  I  have  taken  notice  of, 
fometimes  deceive  the  miners  in  fhoding  for  Veins ;  for  when  they  fuppofc  that  there  is  but  one  bed 
pr  layer  of  flones  or  earth  over  the  firm  ground,  ard  there  happens  to  be  a  doubie  flratum  of  rock 
and  rubble  between,  which  Is  far  from  being  uncommon,  perhaps  they  dig  no  deeper  than  the  firfl 
fhelf ;  in  other  words,  they  dig  no  deeper  than  tilltthey  think  they  are  come  down  almofl  to  the 
faft  or  firm  ground,  where  they  eypeft  to  find  either  the  Shode  or  t!ie  Bryle  of  the  Lode;  but  as 
they  are  covered  by  the  other  flielf  or  ftratum,  which  the  Miners  are  not  apprized  of,  they  have 
their  labour  for  their  pairis,  in  feeking  in  fuch  uncertain  ground,  which  perhaps  contains  a  double 
or  treble  ihelf. — The  Miners  are  of  opinion,  that  the  waters  by  their  great  emotion,  did  not  only 
remove,  and  confufe  the  furface  of  the  earth,  but  alfo  broke  the  loofer  parts  of  Veins  from  off  their 
fuperficies  or  backs ;  and  tliereby  difordered  and  removed  the  face  of  the  earth  as  deep  as  the  fafl 
and  firm  rock  or  flratum,  as  I  have  faid  before  :  and  indeed  our  apprehenfion  of  the  matter  very 
much  favours  this  fuppofition  :  wlience,  undoubtedly,  tliofe  Shodes  or  fragments  of  Veins  are  the 
veftiges  or  remains  of  the  deluge.  Hence  it  is,  that  part  of  the  Shode  has  Jbeen  rolled  down  the 
declivities  of  iiills  from  the  Mines ;  moreover,  that  Shode  which  is  found  a  great  way  diftant  from 
the  Mines,  is  much  more  worn  and  fmoother  than  that  which  is  nearer  to  it,  as  it  happens  to  ftones 
on  the  fea  fhore,  or  on  the  fides  of  rapid  rivers,  which  are  fretted  and  worn  fmooth  by  the  agitation 
of  the  waters,  and  the  friftion  of  other  bodies.  If  any  perfon  will  but  confider  the  fea  cliffs,  he 
may  obferve,  in  feveral  places,  that  the  upper  coat  or  covering  of  the  earth,  has  been  greatly  moved 
and  agitated  ;  and  that  the  loofe  ftones  did  preponderate  and  fubfide  on  the  firm  rocks,  purfuant  to 
their  fpecifick  gravities ;  next  thofe,  the  rubble  refided,  and  over  all  the  pure  light  earth  refted.  Yet 
this  order  is  net  abfblutely  perfed  and  without;  exception;  K>r  loofe  ftones  are  often  found  in  the 
light  earth,  and  on  its  fuperficies;  which  by  the  impetuofity  of  the  waters,  and  fituation  of  particu- 
lar places,  were  molefted  in  fubfiding.  For  we  are  not  to  fuppofe  our  globe  to  tefemble  a  trough, 
or  the  like  excavated  figure,  wherein  the  varioufty  mixed  earths  are  to  be  regularly  difpofed,  as  in 
the  operation  of  huddling  or  wafhing  of  Cres  ;  but  to  be  of  a  fpherical  arched  figure,  where  the 
waters,  as  on  a  hanging  bottom,  pov-^Tfully  rend,  and  pull  it  afunder ;  and  this  fcrce  of  the  waters 

O  z  we 


io8  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

ten  feet  deep,  which  we  call  a  Stream.  And,  when  there  is  a  good  quantity  of  tin  in  it, 
the  tinners  call  it,  in  the  Cornifli  tongue,  Beiiheyl,  or  a  Li-ving  Stream — that  is,  a  courfe  of 
ftones  impregnated  with  tin.  In  like  manner,' when  the  ftone  has  a  fmall  appearance  of 
tin,  they  lay  it  is  juj}  ali-ve ;  when  no  metal,  it  is  faid  to  be  dead  ;  and  the  rubble  which 
cont^ns  no  metal,  is  called  Deads.  Thefe  ilreams  are  of  different  breadths,  leldom  lefs 
than  a  fathom,  oftentimes  fcattered,  though  in  dilferent  quantities,  over  the  whole  width 
of  the  moor,  bottom,  or  valley,  in  which  they  are  found  :  And  when  leveral  inch  Ilreams 
rae€t,~they  oftentimes  make  a  very  rich  floor  of  tin,  one  ftreani  proving  as  it  were  a  mag- 
net to  the  metal  of  the  other/'C^)  I^'-  Pryce  explains  Shading,  to  be  "  the  method  of 
finding  veins  of  tin  by  digging  fmall  pits  in  order  to  trace  out  the  lodes  of  tin,  by  the 
fcattermg  loofe  Hones  and  fragments  that  were  difperfed  from  them  by  the  retiring  waters 
of  the  deluge:  The  loo(e  Itones  thus  difperfed,  are  called  6'i'o^^-ftones.''(^)  '*  If  the 
Shade  (fays  Dr.  Borla  e)  is  found  in  the  vegetable  Ibil,  it  gives  no  evidence  of  any  lode's 
being  nigh  ;  but  if  in  xhtfaji  (that  is,  the  rubble  or  clay  never  moved  fmce  the  Hood)  it 
is  taken  as  a  never  failing  proof  that  it  came  from  a  lode  farther  up  in  the  hill.  As  foon 
as  the  ihode  is  found  impregnated  with  tin,  to  iind  the  lode  it  came  from,  is  the  next  care. 
The  procefs  confilts  in  digging  pits  at  a  proper  diftance  and  depth,  and  in  a  proper 
direction,  and  judiciouily  regulating  their  advances  to  the  lode,  according  as  the  proper- 
ties of  the  fhodes  dire61."(<:)  With  relpect  to  the  operation  of  Strea?::mgy  Dr.  Pryce 
informs  us,  that  the  tinner,  having  fixed  on  a  favourable  fituation,  and  iettled  the  preli- 
minaries, "  links  a  hatch  or  ihaft,  '.hree,  five,  or  feven  fathoms  deep,  to  the  rocky  flielf  or 
clay  ;  on  both  of  which  in  the  fame  valley,  the  Tin  is  frequently  ftratified,  without  any 
diiterence  in  its  being  more  abundant  in  one  than  the  other.  It  is  found  in  dili'erent 
place.-;,  at  different  depths,  and  fbmetimcs  ftratified  between  what  is  called  a  firft,  fecond, 
or  third  fhelf.  The  llratum  of  Stieam  Tin  may  be  from  one  to  ten  feet  thickneis  or  more  j 

in 

we  may  fiippofe  to  be  greatefi  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  deluge— So  likewife,  in  fome  places, 
the  loofe  earth  and  Aone,  which  cover  the  firm  rocks,  lie  in  ftrata ;  for  immediately  on  the  rock, 
there  may  be,  for  inftance,  a  Isyer  of  fand  or  clay,  and  over  that,  a  bed  of  large  fiones,  and  fo  alter- 
nately ftratjm  fuper  flratum,  for  fome  depth.  Now  thefe  variations  might  very  well  happen  en  the 
decreafe  of  the  deluge :  for  when  the  flood  was  high  and  more  at  reft,  the  flimy  light  earth  was 
depofited  downwards ;  but  when  the  waters  came  lower,  and  bent  their  courfe  to  the  beach,  then 
it  came  to  pifs  that  there  was  a  ftrong  current  from  off  the  land  to  the  fea,  which  rolled  down  the 
loofe  flonts  upon  the  mud  or  fcdiment  that  fell  and  fettled  beforehand  ;  fo  this  current  might  have 
been  interrupted  again  by  the  fituation  of  the  place  and  hiterpofition  of  high  ground,  till  the  water 
had  let  fall  another  fedimenc,  and  afterwards  found  or  perhaps  broke  another  pafTage  for  itfelf  through 
the  land.  This  might  t.ave  happened  feveral  times  in  the  deluge,  till  at  laft  tlie  remaining  water 
partly  evaporated  and  partly  funk  into  the  ground,  leaving  tlie  deepefl  earth  or  fec'iment  where  it 
continued  longeft ;  as  it  happens  frequently  in  floods  or  overflowings  of  water,  where  we  may 
obferve  the  fituation  of  high  and  low  grounds  do  not  a  little  contribute  to  the  fame  kind  of  efFefts 
that  are  here  fpoken  of. — Another  way  of  difcovering  Lodes,  Is  by  working  drifts  acrofs  the  country 
as  we  call  it,  tfiat  is  from  north  and  fouth,  and  vice  verfa.  I  tried  the  experiment  in  an  adventure 
under  my  manage:r.ent,  wliere  I  drove  all  open  at  gmfs  about  two  feet  in  the  fhelf,  very  much  like 
a  level  to  convey  v/ater  upon  a  mill  wheel ;  by  fo  doing  I  was  ftae  of  cutting  all  Lodes  in  my  way, 
and  did  accordingly  difcover  five  courfes,  one  of  which  has  produced  above  one  hundred  and  eighty 
to'is  of  Copper  Ore,  but  tlie  others  were  never  wrought  upon.  This  method  of  difcovering  Lodes, 
is  equally  cheap  and  certain ;  for  a  hundred  fathoms  in  a  fhallow  furface  may  be  driven  at  fifty  fhil- 
lings  expence. — In  feafible  (tender  flanding)  ground,  a  very  eflfeftual  proving,  and  confequential 
way  is,  by  driving  an  adit  from  the  lowell  ground,  either  north  or  fouth  ;  whereby  there  is  a  cer- 
tainty to  cut  all  Lodes  at  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  fathoms  deep,  if  the  level  admits  thereof.  Such 
depths  a  e  proving  the  Lodes  difcovered  by  them,  and  the  adit  will  ferve  to  drain  all  parts  of  the 
ftrata  above  it;  and  likewife  be  a  difcharge  for  all  water  drawn  from  the  Mine  into  it;  fo  that  it 
is  eflfcdlual  for  difcovery,  proving  for  trial,  and  confequential  to  the  future  working  of  a  Mine.  But 
in  Granite,  Elvan,  and  IreAone  ihata,  this  cannot  be  complied  with,  neither  is  it  advifeable  but 
under  certain  circumf\ances,  where  the  ground  is  to  be  wrought  for  eighteen  fliillings  per  fathom, 
unlefs  a  Cro/s-GoJ/ln  lies  ready  at  hand,  when  the  method  in  nfe  is  to  drive  partly  on  one  fide  of 
the  G'cjfan,  breaking  down  the  adjunift  v/all  of  it,  whereby  they  drive  the  adit  cheaply,  expeditioufly, 
and  effectually  for  difcovery.  In  driving  adits  or  levels  acrofs,  north  or  fouth,  to  unwater  Mines 
already  found,  there  are  many  frefii  Veins  difcovered,  which  frequently  prove  better  than  thofe  they 
were  driving  to.  ^Vitnefs  the  Pool  adit  in  111  gan,  where  the  late  John  Fendarvis  Baffet,  Efq.  cleared 
above  one  hundred  and  thirty  thouf.and  pounds."     p.  124  to  132. 

[a]  Natural  Hift.  p.  i6j,  162.        (/-)  Fryce's  Mineralog.  p.  327.         (<:)  Nat.  Hifl,  p.  166. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  109 

ill  breadth,  from  one  fathom  to  almoft  the  width  of  the  valley  ;  and  in  fize,  from  a  wall- 
nut  to  the  finell  faiid,  the  latter  making  the  principal  part  of  the  Sti'eam,  which  is  inter- 
mixed with  Itones,  gravel,  and  clay,  as  it  was  torn  from  the  ad-acent  hills.  When  he 
fmks  down  to  the  T  in  ftratum,  he  takes  a  fliovel  full  of  it,  and  waflies  off  all  the  wafte  j 
and  from  the  Tin  which  is  left  behind  upon  the  fhovel,  he  judges  whether  that  ground 
is  worth  the  working  or  not.  If  it  is  proving  work,  he  then  goes  down  to  the  loweft  or 
deepeft  part  of  the  valley,  and  digs  an  open  trench,  like  the  tail  or  Xovc  jh-uan  of  an  adit, 
which  he  calls  a  Level,  taking  the  utmoll  care  to  lofe  no  levels  in  bringing  it  home  to  the 
Stream.  This  level  lerves  to  drain  and  carry  olf  all  water  and  walie  from  the  workings, 
in  proportion  as  he  hath  a  weak  or  powerful  current  of  water  to  ran  through  it.  Some 
places  are  very  poor  and  not  worth  the  expence  for  working  ;  others  again  are  very  rich, 
and  tlience  called  BeuhejLe  or  Living  Stream,  as  is  moft  commonly  the  cafe  if  it  is  of  a 
Grouan  nature,  which  being  more  lax  and  fandy,  is  more  eafily  fep  rated  from  its  native 
place  or  Lode,  and  therefore  more  abundant  and  rich  in  quality  according  to  the  known 
excellence  of  Grouan  Tin.  In  the  latter  cafe,  the  Streamer  carries  ott  what  he  calls  the 
O-verburden,  the  loofe  earth,  rubble,  or  Itone,  which  covers  the  Stream,  fo  far  and  fo 
large,  as  1>€  can  manage  with  conveniency  to  his  employment.  If  in  the  progrefs  of  his 
working  he  is  hindred,  he  teems  or  lades  it  out,  with  a  fcoop,  or  dil'charges  it  by  a 
hand  pump  :  but  if  thofe  fimple  methods  are  inlufticient,  he  erefts  a  rag  and  chain  pu?np  j 
or  if  a  rivulet  of  water  is  to  be  rented  cheaply  at  grafs,  he  erefts  a  water  wheel  with 
ballance  bobs,  and  thereby  keeps  his  workings  clear  from  fuperfluous  water,  by  dif- 
charging  it  into  his  level :  mean  while  his  men  are  digging  up  the  Stream  Tin,  and  wafti- 
iug  it  at  the  fame  time,  by  calling  every  fhovcl  full  of  it,  as  it  rifes,  into  a  tje,  which  is 
an  inclined  plane  of  boards  for  the  water  to  run  off,  about  four  feet  wide,  four  high,  and 
nine  feet  long,  in  which,  with  (hovels,  they  turn  it  over  and  over  again  under  a  cafcade 
■of  water  that  wafhes  through  it,  and  fepai^ates  the  wafte  from  the  Tin,  till  it  becomes 
one  half  Tin.  Though  there  is  little  dexterity  in  this  manoeuvre,  yet  care  is  requifite  to 
throw  olf  the  Stent  or  rubble  from  the  tje  to  itfelf,  whillf  another  picks  out  the  Hones 
of  Tin  from  the  Garde  or  fmaller  pryany  part  of  it.  During  this  operation,  the  beft  of 
the  Tin,  by  its  fuperior  gravity,  coliefts  in  the  head  of  the  tye  directly  under  the  caf- 
cade ;  and  by  degrees  becomes  more  full  of  wafte,  as  it  defcends  from  that  place  to  the 
end  or  tail  of  the  tje,  where  it  is  not  worth  the  faving.  If  there  is  a  copious  ftream  of 
water  near  at  hand,  they  caft  this  refute  into  it,  by  which  it  is  carried  fo  far  as  to  make 
its  exit  into  thefea;  for  which  practice  they  certainly  deferve  our  fevereft  cenfure ;  at 
leaft,  if  the  choaking  of  hai'bours  and  rivers,  and  the  deftruftion  of  thoufands  of  acres  of 
improveable  meadow  land,  are  not  more  than  an  equivalent  for  the  cahaal  and  temporary 
profits  arifmg  from  Stream  Tin.'(^)  It  was  nearly  in  this  manner  that  the  Danmonians 
procured  their  tin  :  And  they  were,  doubtleft,  well  acquainted  with  tin  in  its  richeil 
mineral  ftate  ;  fmce  Shode  and  Stream  Tin  muft  have  been  found  plentifully  diileminated 
upon  the  furface  of  the  vallies,  and  the  fides  of  the  hills  and  mountains.  Thofe  frag- 
ments and  nodules,  by  their  color,  fhape,  and  gravity,  muft  have  attracted  the  notice  of 
the  firft  natives.  The  Aborigines  could  not  obferve  the  fmgular  fhape  and  weight  of 
Shode  and  Stream  Tin,  without  confidering  the  contents  as  a  mineral,  which  by  its  fupe- 
rior gravity  would  aiford  forae  metallic  fubftance  j  efpecially  when  by  a  compaiifon  with 
the  mineral  ores  of  other  metals,  known  long  before  the  flood,  they  muft  have  judged  its 
conliftence  to  be  metalline.  There  ai-e  fome  who  would  confine  our  original  Tin-works  to 
the  CafHterides,  as  including  only  the  iflands  of  Scilly .  But,  to  wave  all  other  confidera- 
tions,  the  Shode  and  Stream  Tin  of  the  Scilly  Ifles,  though  abundant,  was  not  fufticient 
for  the  wants  of  this  adventurous  and  mercantile  people.  (?)  Befides,  we  have  the  clearefi 

veftiges 

(<?)   Mineral.  Ccrnub.  p.  132  to  134. 

{b)  The  veftigia  of  any  Tin  Lodes,  Mines,  or  workings,  in  the  iflands  of  Scilly,  are  infufficient 
to  convince  us.  that  they  only  gave  this  beautiful  Metal  to  the  world  :■  the  remains  of  any  fuch  work- 
ings are  fcarcely  difcernible  ;  lor  there  is  but  one  place,  that  exhibits  even  an  imperfeft  appearance 
of  a  Mine  :  And  fo  nccefTaiy  an  appendage  to  a  Mine  as  an  adit  to  unwater  the  vvoikings,  is  not  to 
be  feen  in  ail  the  iflands.  If,  in  thofe  day?,  the  MetaJ  was  produced  from  ftream  or  fliode  ftones 
only,  we  muft  undoubtedly  have  difcovered,  in  latter  times,  thofe  Lodes  or  veins  from  whence  they 
were  difmenibered  by  the  deluge.  They  m\ift  have  been  wrought  for  Tin  fince  the  earlier  ages; 
and  fome  remains  of  fuch  Lodes  would  now  be  vifible  on  the  fea  coafts  or  cliffs,  if  many  fuch  had 
ever  betn :  we  are,  therefore,  ftrongly  induced  to  believe,  that  the  Mineral  Ore  of  Tin  was  anciently 

procured 


no  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

veftiges  of  ancient  Tin-mines  in  various  parts  of  Danmonium.  To  fay  nothing  of  Corn- 
wall,  there  are  nmnberlefs  ftream-works  on  Dartmoor,  and  in  its  vicinities,  which  have 
lain  fopiaken  for  ages.  In  the  parifhes  of  Manaton,  Kinglleignton,  and  Teigngrace,  are 
many  old  Tin-works  of  this  kind,  which  the  inhabitants  attribute  to  that  period,  when 
wolves  and  winged  ferpents  were  no  ftrangers  to  the  hills  or  the  vallies.(a)  The  Bovey- 
Heathlield  hath  been  worked  in  the  fame  manner  :  And,  indeed,  all  the  vallies  from  the 
Heathiield  to  Dartmoor,  bear  the  traces  of  (lioding  and  ftreaniing,  which,  I  doubt  not,  was 
either  Britifli  or  Phenician.(^)  Lead  was,  aifo.  familial-  to  the  weftern  Britons.  "  For 
lead,  the  mines  of  the  Scilly  iiles  (fays  Mr.  Whitaker)  were  worked  by  the  Aborigines, 
and  thofe  of  the  Peak  by  the  Belg£e.'X<^)  In  the  Scilly  Ifles,  the  veins  of  lead  lay  fo  im- 
mediately below  the  furface  of  the  ground,  and  branched  out  in  fo  great  an  abundance, 
that  the  I'earch  for  this  metal  was  attended  with  little  trouble  or  expence.  Here  again, 
there  feems  to  be  no  warrant  for  the  fuppofition,  that  the  working  of  lead  was  circura- 
fcribed  by  the  Scilly  Ifles.  Mr.  Whitaker  fays,  that  "  it  was  late  before  any  mines  of  Iron 
were  opened  in  this  ifland.  They  appear  to  have  been  begun  only  a  few  years  before  the 
defcent  of  Csfar,  and  even  then  were  carried  on  not  by  the  Britons,  but  the  Belg2e."(^) 
As  Mr.  Whitaker  is  of  opinion,  that  the  Dannionians  were  a  tribe  of  the  Be/go-,  he  doubt - 
lefs  means  to  include  the  former  under  this  general  appellation.  That  the  Danmonians 
had  J;-c«-works,  is  plain  from  Casfar,  who  mentions  the  ex'igua  copia"  {e)  of  our  iron 
in  the  maritime  parts.  The  Iron-pits  on  Blackdown,  were,  I  conceive,  originally 
Britifh ;  and  were  afterwards  worked  by  the  Romans.  That  gold  and  filyer  (particularly 
the  former)  were  difcovered  in  Danmonium,  before  the  arrival  of  Csfar,  is  plain,  I  think, 
from  C/;Strabo  and  Tacitus. C?)  From  the  frequent  difcoveries  of  gold  in  particular, 
among' the  few  ftream-works  of  the  prefent  day,  we  fliould  conclude,  that  this  metal  muft 
have  been  inevitably  found  by  the  Danmonians,  who  had  no  other  works  than  thofe  of 
ftream  or  ihode',  and  who  in  the  profecution  of  their  labors,  had,  probably,  broken  up 
half  the  furface  of  Danmonium,  before  the  Roman  Period.  "  It  is  fufpecVed  (fays  Bor- 
lafe)  that  there  is  gold,  more  or  lefs,  in  all  the  ftream-tin  in  Cornwall.  What  has  been 
found,  is  always  intermixed  with  grains  of  tin-ore,  which,  by  their  roundnefs  and  fmocth- 
nefs  ftiew  tliat  they  have  been  waflied  down  from  the  neighbouring  hills.  That  gold 
lies,'  fometimes,  fo  intermixed  with  tin,  was  not  unknou-n  to  the  ancients."  (A)r?iny 
gives  us  an  accurate  defcription  of  thefe  metals  found  together,  in  the  faji  e  m-nner  as 
they  are  now  difcovered  in  our  ftream-works — the  tin  in  calculi  (that  is,  fmooth  pebbly 
ore)  of  the  fame  gravity  as  the  ore  of  g-.ld,  and  feparated  by  fearfmg.  "  SeparanCir 
camfris,  fays  he  (not  caminis,  as  in  fome  editions)  that  is,  by  balkets  of  the  lame  nature 

and  ufe  as  our  fearces.  _  ,    ,    .  ,     r        r     t>  i  l-  u 

In  what  manner  the  Danmonians  prepared  thele  metals  for  ule,  Folybms,  perhaps, 
would  have  informed  us,  had  not  that  valuable  work  which  Strabo  mentions,  been  loft 
in  the  wreck  of  time.     The  Aborigines,  probably,  foon  learnt  the  metliod  of  extrafting 

metal 

procured  within  the  four  weftern  hundreds  of  Cornwall,  and  there  fmelted  into  white  Tin,  by  char- 
coal fires,  as  the  want  of  a  proper  bitumen  in  thofe  days,  and  the  entire  demolition  of  all  the  woods 
near  the  Tin  Mines,  very  plainly  evince.  Befides,  unlefs  we  make  great  allowances  indeed  for  en- 
croachments of  the  ocean  fince  thofe  early  ages,  the  idands  of  Scilly  are  merely  in  their  prefent  ftate 
a  clu'ter  of  barren  rocks,  the  principal  of  them  meafuring  but  three  miles  long  and  two  wide.  Whence 
ftiould  all  this  Tin  arife  ?  Likewife  the  ftate  of  population  then  could  not  admit  of  emigrations  from 
the  infular  continent  for  digging,  raifing,  and  fmelting  a  Metal,  which  the  mother  irtand  produced 
io  fuch  vaft  profufion  from  her  own  bowels."     Pryce'%  Miner.  Comub.  Introd.  p-  iv.  _ 

(flj  The  ancient  Tin-works  of  Manaton,  it  feems,  are  at  this  day,  haunted  by  tlie  wmged  ferpent ! 

{b)  A  Phenician  coin  was  found  at  Teignmouth,  a  few  years  fmce. 

(c)  Csefar,  p.  8S,  and  Strabo,  p.  165.  (</)  Cafar,  p.  S8.  ... 

(e)  "  When  Caefar,  fpeaking  of  Britain,  fays,  ♦  najcUur  ibi  plumbum  album  m  me/Titerravas  rtgior:- 
lus.  m  maritimis  fcrrum  ;  Jed  t]ui  exigua  eji  cof:a  }'  he  elucidates  our  weftern  hiftory.  To  Cajfar  it 
appeared  that  the  tin  came  from  the  inner  courtr>-.  The  original  road  by  which  this  tin  was  conveyed, 
(houid  be  an  objea  of  your  in -eftigation ;  and,  probably,  you  will  find  it  carried  over  fords  and 
forming  towns,  in  its  progrefs  between  Dartmoor  and  where  Sir  R.  Worfley  now  traces  it  to  have 
entered  the  Ifle  of  Wight.  On  thefe  fords  too,  you  will  probably  find  a  Reman  fettlement,  and  not 
impofTibly  account  for  Crcckem-lon,  Cbcgford,  Sec.  having  been  formerly  places  of  eminence.  The 
roads  on  each  fide  of  Dartmoor,  were,  probably,  ufed  for  fimilar  conveyances  and  centered  at  the 
firlt  paflage  over  the  Exe,  probably  through  Exeter."     Col.  Simcce  to  the  author. 

(fj  Lib.  iv.         (g)  Fit.  ^giic.  Cap.  xii,— f<rf  Britannia  aurum  et  grgentum^  pretivm  viBona. 

f,b)  Lib.  XXXV.  Cap.  xvi.  ^ 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  iii 

metal  from  mineral  fubftances  -.  And  it  was  eafy  to  purify  tin  from  its  native  drofs.  The 
richnefs  of  the  metal,  and  its  ready  fluxility  in  the  fire,  mull  have  confirmed  their  con- 
jeftures ;  whilft  its  beautiful  color  and  innocent  properties,  rendered  it,  perhaps,  as 
valuable  in  their  eilimation  as  filver  and  gold,  until,  by  great  abundance,  which  ren- 
ders all  things  cheap,  it  funk  in  the  fcale  of  comparative  excellence.  Polybius  is  faid  to 
have  defcribed  the  ancient  method  of  preparing  tin  for  the  furnace.  And  as  Polybius 
was  a  very  accurate  writer,  it  is  much  to  be  regretted,  that  his  account  of  the  procefs  hath 
not  reached  our  times :  All  vve  can  do,  is  to  acquiefce  in  a  few  vague  notices  of  Diodorus 
Siculus.  The  tinners,  as  (^)Diodorus  intimates,  manufadrure  their  tin  by  working  the 
grounds  which  produce  it,  with  great  art.  For  though  the  land  is  rocky,  it  hath  foft 
veins  of  earth  running  through  it,  in  which  the  tinners  find  the  treafure,  extraSi,  melt, 
and  purijy  it ;  then  Ihaping  it  by  moulds  into  a  kind  of  cubical  figure.  With  refpeft  to 
other  ores,  I  have  nothing  to  add  ;  as  nothing  remains  on  record.  I  might  conjeclure, 
that  as  the  Romans  had  iron  forges  in  Danmonium,  the  Britons  might  have  been  furniftied 
with  the  fame  apparatus.  And  I  might  proceed  in  this  manner,  in  regard  to  other  metals. 
Here,  however,  I  fhall  Hop.  I  have  been,  fometimes,  hypothetical:  And,  to  enliven  a 
barren  fubjeft,  it  was  almoft  necelTary  to  be  fo.  But  to  indulge  often  in  theory,  is  to 
throw  a  romantic  color  over  the  truth  of  hiftory.  Let  me,  therefore,  clofe  the  prefent 
view,  whilil  the  fpirit  of  conjecture  11  umbers. 


SECTION      VII. 

FIEJV  of  the  MANUFACTURES  of  DANMONIUM,  in  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Necejfary  and  Secondary  Arts — Among  the  neceffary  Arts,  Cloathing — The  Cloth -Manufac- 
ture and  the  Art  of  Dyeing  Cloth,  kno-ivn  to  the  Aborigines. — II.  Amo?ig  the  fecondary  Arts, 
the  Danmonians  fiilled  in  the  --working  of  V/ood — and  in  the  ivorkifig  of  Metals — Tin,  Lead, 
Brafj,  Iron,  'varioufiy  manufa£lured — the  War-Chariot,  an  adtnirable  Specimen  of  Britijh 
Ingenuity — Gold  arid  Silver  Smiths — Fcttery — Glafs. — III.  Conclufion. 

THE  Manufadlures  of  Devon  mry  properly  be  claffed  under  two  heads — the  neceffarj 
and  fecondary  arts , 

Among  the  necejfary  arts,  that  of  Cloathing  firit  prefents  itfelf  to  notice.  The  more 
prevailing  opinion,  is,  that  the  firft  garments  of  the  Britons  were  made  of  flcins ;  and 
that  the  art  of  dreffing  wool,  of  fpinning  it  into  yarn,  and  of  weaving  it  into  cloth,  was 
communicated  to  the  Britons  by  the  Belgic  colonies.  Accordingly,  we  are  told,  that 
our  Belgic  colonifts  manufactured  feveral  kinds  of  woollen-cloth — that  one  of  thefe  kinds 
confilled  of  a  coad'e  fort  of  wool,  woven  very  thick ;  and  that  of  this,  the  Britons  made 
their  mantles  or  plaids  which  they  uied  in  winter.  Another  kind  of  cloth  attributed  to 
the  Belgic  Britons,  confilied  of  fine  wool  dyed  feveral  dillerent  colors.  This  being  fpun 
into  yarn,  was  woven  chequer^vife ;  which  made  it  fall  into  fmall  fquares,  fome  of  one 
color,  and  fome  of  another.  The  art  of  manufacturing  cloths  from  the  filaments  of  flax 
«nd  hemp,  is  afcribed,  alfo,  to  the  Belgic  colonies.  That  the  Belgae  manufaftured  linen, 
and  wore  linen  garments,  is  unqueftionably  true.  And  the  Belgae  have  all  the  credit  for 
introducing  into  the  iiland,  the  art  of  dyeing  cloth  j  which,  we  fee,  was  not  unknown  to 
the  Britons. 

How  thefe  opinions  can  any  way  be  reconciled  with  the  hiftory  of  the  Druids,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  fay.  The  Druids  are  defcribed,  as  wearing  long  white  garments  :  And  the  inha- 
bitants of  Devon  and  Cornwall,  and  of  the  Scilly  Ifles,  are  faid  to  have  been  cloathed  in 
black — iJ.i>.xyy>.oi.itsci  is  Strabo's  expreflion.  Ancient  authors,  indeed,  reprefent  the  Bri- 
tons as  varioufiy  habited  :  And  this  diverfity  was  unavoidable.  The  aboriginal  Danmonii 
would  naturally  wear  one  kind  of  habit ;  and  the  Belgic  colonies,  another.  And  from 
the  diftinftions  of  fi-ation,  would  ari  e  other  varieties  of  drefs.  The  Druids  were  arrayed 
in  long  white  garments,  thar  fwept  the  ground  ;  whilft  the  nobles  of  Danmonium  wore, 
perhaps,  the  loofe  black  robe,  and  the  common  people  the  plaid  or  flcins  of  bealls. 
That  the  inhabitants  of  Danmonium,  were  unacquainted  with  the  cloth-manufa6ture  till 

0  the 

{a)  Book  IV.  p.  301.  Edit.  Hanover,  1664. 


112  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

the  arrival  of  the  Belgic  colonies,  is  an  opinion  to  which  I  can  never  aflent.  EVen  if 
•we  \v;ive  the  idea  of  an  eallern  colonization,  our  connexion  with  the  Phenicians  and 
the  Greeks,  would  ren  er  liich  ignorance  improbable.  The  writers  who  enteitain 
this  notion  of  tlie  wellern  Britons  in  general,  afhrm,  that  "  if  the  Phenicians  or  Greeks 
imparted  any  knowledge  of  theie  arts  to  the  Britons,  //  ai'as  cfrtaiuly  'very  imperfeil,  and 
communicated  only  to  a  few  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Scilly  lilands,  with  whom  they 
chicriy  traded. "(fl)  Here  is  all  the  hefitation  that  marks  an  extorted  truth  :  Nor  is  the 
paffa^e  free  from  abfurdity.  That  the  knowledge  of  the  cloth-man ufaiture  was  commu- 
nicated by  the  Phenicians'to  the  weftern  Britons,  is  allowed  from  the  preiTmg  neceffity  of 
the  cafe.  Yet,  as  this  conceilion  plainly  contradifts  the  notion  of  the  Belgas  long  after 
introducino-  the  cloth -manufacture  into  the  illand,  it  is  inltantly  qualified  by  terms  that 
feem  almolt  to  annihilate  it :  It  is  fettered  with  un.'.uthorized  reltridions.  On  what 
<TOunds  do  we  prefume,  that  the  knowledge  which  the  Phenicians  imparted,  was  certainly 
very  un'^ertecl,  or  that  it  was  communicated  to  a  few  inhabitants  of  the  Scilly  Illes  only, 
with  whoin  they  ihiefty  traded  ?  The  r^'f/' trade  of  tne  Phenicians  was  not  with  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  Scilly  llles :  Their  commerce  was  with  De\  onlhire  and  Cornwall  and  the 
Scilly  Illes.  Why,  then,  (hould  we  confine  this  communication  within  the  narrow 
botmdaries  of  the  latter  ?  Wlx)  Ihall  prove,  that  it  was  not  coexterifive  with  the  Phenician 
trade  ?  (b) 

In  the  mean  time,  I  am  difpofed  to  think,  that  thofe  Britiih  manufaftures  were  even 
anterior  to  the  Phenicians.  The  plaided  draper)',  I  conceive,  was  an  original  Britifh 
BTinufaifture,  introdu'red  by  our  tirll  colonifts.  The  (c)Highlandeis,  who  emigrated  from 
the  eall,  manufactured  (</) plaids.  Of  the  cloth  which  was  compoled  of  hemp  and  of  flax, 
the  manufafture  was  ealtern,  from  the  very  earlieft  antiquit}'.  The  Kaniiatb  of  the  Irilh, 
an4  the  Kanab  of  the  Armoricans,  faintly  echoed  in  the  Englifh  hemp,  was  called  Cannabis 
by  the  Romans.  And  it  is  likely  that  Karinaib  was  the  original  word,  and  that  hemp  wa» 
introduced  into  Britain  by  our  rirft  ealtern  colonifts,  and  derived  from  thofe  Aborigines 
to  the  Romans. -^That  flax  was  cultivated  in  the  land  of  ^g}'pt,  the  book  of  Exodus 
informs  us :  It  was  very  common  in  Paleftine  and  other  eaftern  countries.  And  the  robes 
of  the  Druids  are  laid  to  have  been  linen.  (^)That  linen,  indeed,  was  very  generally 
ufed  by  the  weftern  Britons,  we  fliould  infer  "  from  the  fpear-heads,  axes  for  \^ar,  and 
fwords  of  copper,  that  have  been  found  in  Danmonium,  wrapt  up  in  linen  coverings. 'Y.O 
That  the  art  of  dyeing  cloth  was  familiar  to  the  ancient  Britons,  before  the  Belgse,  we 
have  every  re.aibn  to  infer,  froni  the  known  fact  of  their  painting  and  ttaining  their 
lkir>.(^)  And  with  the  fame  color  w^hich  they  ufed  in  ftaining  their  fkin,  the  Danmo- 
nians,  probabl}-,  dyed  their  garments.  The  art  of  dyeing  cloth  was  eax'ly  in  ufe  among 
the  people  of  the  ealt.  "  Ifrael  made  Joleph  a  coat  of  many  colors."  Among  the  Bri- 
tons, the  glaj}rum  or  woad  was  a  favorite  color  :  And  the  famous  fiu-pura  was  furely  not 
unknown  to  the  nobles  of  Danmonium.  Very  pofFibly,  the  purple  dye  of  the  Tyrians 
twined  its  high  reputation,  among  the  ancients,  from  the  ufe  of  our  tin  in  the  compofition 
of  the  dye-ftuff ;  as  the  tin  tnide  was  folely  in  their  own  management.  That  its  ule  as 
caie  of  the  /;i5« -coloring  retentive  ingredients,  was  known  to  the  Phenicians,  will  appear 
probable,  when  we  confider  the  unfadingnefs  of  their  purple ;  which  was  a  leading  cha- 
racter 

(j)  See  Henry's  Hirtory  of  Great  Britain,  vol.  i,  p.  326. 

{b\  Sammes  thinks,  that  "the  black  garments  (/x=?.av;^  ?.«(*«/)  of  the  weftern  Britons,  were  Phe- 
nician The  habits  of  thefe  weftern  Britons  were  remarkable  for  their  hngtb  and  cdour  \  the  former 
of  which,  together  with  the  flafFthey  ufed  to  carry,  argues  that  fome  eaftern  colonies,  and  efpecially 
the  Phenicians,  traded  with  them".     Britan.  Antiqu.  p.  118. 

(t)  See  OfTian,  vol.  i,  p.  140  —  156. 

[d)  To  this  day,  the  ftriped  woollen  mantles  of  the  Highlanders,  are  denominated 5/f/jf<in ;  And 
the  ccarfe  rough  cloth  of  the  Welch,  was  termed  B'-yckar,.  In  this  county,  a  rent  in  a  garment  is 
called  a  hrcac :   And,  whatever  they  tear,  the  Devonfhire  people  fay,  they  break. 

(e)  The  Scutha:  of  Colchis  (fays  the  fcholiaft  upon  Pindar)  are  a  colony  from  Egypt :  they  are  of 
3  dark  complexion,  and  they  deal  in  flix,  of  which  they  make  linen  after  the  manner  of  the  Egypt- 
jjns,  j  he  irilh  have  been  ever  famous  for  the  manufacture  of  linen  and  woollen  cloths.  Vallancey 
has  proved  tiie  nsmes  of  every  implement  ufed  in  the  weaving  of  linen,  to  be  oriental. 

(fj  Borl.fe's  .^ntiqu.  p.  217. 

(l)  Which  may  be  reconciled  with  their  wearing  cloaths.  In  war,  they  threw  off  their  garments, 
and  painted  their  bodies,  to  render  their  afped  more  terrible.  The  Highlanders  fought  almoft  nak^d 
wiihiO  the  prefsnt  age. 


The     BRITISH     PERIOD.  113 

ratSler  in  that  celebrated  color  pro^iuced  by  the  fliell-filli  purpura.  It  is  not  likely,  that 
the  limple  blood  of  a  lliell-filh,  however  beautiful  at  firlt,  would  have  proved  a  laJlhigdyQ. 
The  addition  olfume  retentive  ingredient,  mull  have  been  necefiary  to  fecure  its  bright- 
nei's  and  preferve  its  beauty.  Tin,  diifolved  in  aqua  fortis,  is,  at  prefent,  a  necellary 
article  in  the  new  fcarlet  dye.  And  our  fine  cloths  owe  the  permanence  of  their  deli- 
cate colors  to  the  retentivenels  given  by  the  fineft  grain  tin  :  So  that  the  Englifhfiiper- 
fine  broad -cloths,  dyed  in  grain  by  the  help  of  this  ingredient,  are  beccm&  famous  in  all 
markets  of  the  known  world.  % 

After  Cloathing,  tliere  are  arts  of  an  inferior  degree,  which  may  be  czMeamhe  feconJary 
arts.  Of  this  kind,  are  tlie  arts  of  working  wood  and  metals.  That  the  Britons  were  not 
uninftru6ied  in  the  Inidneis  of  the  turner  and  carpenter,  is  evident  from  the  formation 
of  their  (hields  either  in  circles  or  lozenges,  from  the  tapering  of  the  (hafts  of  their  Ipears 
and  arrows,  and  i'vom  the  rounding  of  the  axles  of  their  chariots.  The  arts  of  working- 
wood,  were  more  obvious  than  thole  of  refining  and  working  metals.  With  refpeci  to 
the  tin  of  Danmonium,  I  have  already  intimated  iu  my  notices  of  the  mines,  that  this 
met.al,  lieing  collected  in  the  land  or  glebe,  was  cleai-ed  from  the  earth  with  water,  fuled 
in  the  furnaces,  and  beaten  into  iquares.(rt)  Lead  was  another  metal  which  the  Danmo- 
nians  uled  for  diiferent  purpoies,  and  which  was  one  of  the  Phenician  exports.  And 
brafs  was  worked  into  vai'ious  fliapes  by  the  Danmoaians.  The  firft  formation  of  brafs  was 
prior  to  the  ilood — though  not  previous  to  the  knowledge  of  iron.  Without  brafs  or  iron 
■weapons,  the  nrft  colonilts  could  neither  have  built  their  houles  nor  cleared  away  the 
'woods  about  their  fettlements.  And,  as  the  nations  in  the  eaft  appear  to  have  worked 
mines  of  iron  or  copper,  in  tl)e  remoteft  periods  of  their  hillory,  Co  the  Danmonii 
were  particularly  acquainted  with  both.  {(>)  The  Danmonians  had,  certainly,  brafs- 
founderies :  And  they  had  one  brafs  foundery,  at  leaft,  in  the  cantred  of  Ifca,  in  order 
to  f up  ply  the  armoury  of  the  principality.  The  armouries  of  the  Britons  were  furnilhed 
with  Ipears,  daggers,  fwords,  battle-axes,  and  bows,  and  wirti  helmets  and  coats  of  mail, 
fhields  and  chariots.  In  Ireland,  and  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  we  find  many  of 
thefe  weapons  at  the  prefent  day.  Swords,  compoled  of  copper,  fpeltae,  and  iron,  of  the 
fame  ftiape,  and  of  the  lame  mixture  as  to  the  quantity  and  quality  of  each  metal,  have 
been  found  on  the  plains  of  Cannae  and  in  Ireland.  Concerning  the  origin  and  ule  of 
celts,  which  were  of  brafs  or  copper,  many  have  ignorantly  conieftured.  Celts  have 
generally  been  luppoled  to  be  purely  Roman.  They  feldom,  however,  occur  in  Italy ;  and 
when  they  do,  they  are  regai^ded  as  tranl'aipine  antiquities.  For  this  and  other  realbns. 
Dr.  Borlafe  is  inclined  to  believe,  that  the  celt  is  not  to  be  alcribed  to  the  Rbmans  in 
general,  but  that  it  was  originally  of  Britilh  invention,  and  afterwards  improved  and  uftd 
by  the  provincial  Romans.  "  Celts,  fays  Dr.  Borlaie,  are  of  diiferent  lizes.  The  larg'^r  and 
heavier  feem  to  have  been  the  heads  of  fpears — the  middle  fort  were  deligned,  perhaps, 
for  javelins,  and  the  lighter  and  inraller  for  the  heads  or  arming  of  arrows.  Some  celts, 
found  in  a  ftone-quarry  in  Yorkfhire,  weie  encloied  in  cafes  ;  and,  doubtlefs,  they  were 
thus  cautiou%  iheathcd,  to  prelerve  the  keenne'.s  of  their  edges."  What  Borlaie  here 
calls  the  brals  cafes  of  the  celts,  were  aftually  the  moulds  in  which  they  were  caft. 
Moulds  have  been  found  much  burnt  by  the  conftant  carting  of  the  hot  rietal.  A  great 
number  of  celts  have  been  dug  up  in  Ireland — a  country  never  vilited  by  the  Romans.  I 
fliould  judge  them,  indeed,  to  have  been  the  manufacture  of  the  original  Iridi,  before 
the  Romans  exifted  as  a  nation.  Mr.  Whitaker  has  given  us  a  particu  ar  delcription  of 
thefe  inltruments -.(f)  And  he  has  proved,  beyond  aU  contradiction,  that  the  celt  was 
the  head  of  a  light  battle-axe.  '•  And  it  was  a  Briiih  one,"  adds  our  excellent  hifto- 
rian.  It  was  an  aboriginal  inftrument  :  The  Afiatics  of  Danmonium.  of  Ireland,  and 
of  Scotland,  all  ufed  it.  With  relpeft  to  Devonlhire  and  Cornwall,  celts  have  been  fre- 
quently found  in  theie  counties.  A  fmall  brafs  cc\t{J)  was  diicovered  Ibme  years  ago,  at 
Place,  in  Chudleigh — It  is  now  in  the  polfellion  of  John  Hale,  Elq.  in  Chudle:gh.  And 
another  brafs  celt  was  found  a':  the  fame  time  and  place,  which  had  a  ho'e  in  it,  probably, 
for  a  handle,  and  was  given  to. a  gentleman  in  Dorfetlhire.     A  celt  was,  alio,  dug  up  at 

Ingldon, 

(.i)-PIiny,  1.  3d,  c.i6.    Dlodorus,  p.  347.         (I))  See  Deuteronomy,  c.  3  & '^.    Csfar,  p.  SS. 
(<:)  See  his  Manchcjler,  vol.  1,  p.  17  to  22. 

(d)  Near  this  cek  was  found,  at  the  fi»me  time,  a  fmall  brafs  oval  ring,  now  in  the  poffeffion  cS 
Mr.  Joiin  Pike,  of  Ch\idjeigh,  .     . 

Vol,  I.  P 


n4  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of   DEVONSHIRE. 

In^i'^ion,  in  the  pariili  of  IHlngton.  a  few  years  fince  :  There  was  nothingj  remarkable  In 
it.  An.'  De.ui  Milles  has  left  us  a  draught  of  a  brals  celt,  which  was  fouad  in  the  parifh 
of  Bucktaltleigh,  "  under  a  wall  (fays  he)  lately  pulled  down.  They  fuppofe  by  the  fitua- 
tion  of  the  plaice,  that  the  ground  has  not  been  broken  there,  for  at  leaft  a  century  back : 
Formerly  mines  were  worked  there"  The  working  of  the  mines,  however  (though  the 
Dean  feems  to  lay  fome  ttrefs  on  this  circumltance)  has  no  connexion  with  the  ul'e  of  the 
celt.  In  feveral  parts  of  the  north  of  Devon,  alfo,  celts  have  been  dag  up  :  Mr.  Badcock 
mentions  one  in  particular,  which  was  fub.nittedto  his  inlpe6lion  as  a  curiofi.y.(rt) — Iron 
uten'ils  and  weapons,  were  coeval,  at  lealt  with  thole  of  bra's.  And,  before  the  Koman 
arrival,  the  Britons  are  thought  to  have  eftabiifhed  founderies  for  making  iron,  and  f  rges 
for  manufafturing  arms,  tools,  and  utenlils  of  all  kinds.  Near  Beaford-moorhead,  and 
feveral  other  pi  ices  in  this  county,  cinders  have  been  dug  up  in  confiderable  quantities, 
that  feem  to  point  out  the  iron-works  either  of  the  Briton.-  or  the  Romans.  At  the  place 
I  have  mentioned,  the  cinders  lay  between  two  and  three  feet  deep.  From  the  remains  of 
old  intrenchments  here,  I  rather  fuipeft  that  theie  cinders  are  to  be  clailed  among  Roman 
relics. — In  the  war-chariot,  both  wood  and  metals  appear  to  have  been  combined  with 
wonderful  art.  Ofj:he  mechanical  abilities  of  the  Britons,  this  vehicle  is  a  fufficient  evi- 
dence. Its  ingenious  conftru6Vion  was  admired  by  the  Romans.  On  one  of  the  Britifti 
coins,  we  have  an  elegant  piiSlure  of  the  war-chariot,  {b)  There  we  fee  the  charioteer 
mounted  on  his  carriage  before  us,  a  quiver  of  arrows  peeping  over  his  left  flioulder,  and 
a  fpear  protended  from  his  left  hand ;  his  feet  refting  upon  the  pole  or  a  foot-board  an- 
nexed to  it,  and  his  body  leaning  over  the  horfes,  in  the  aft  of  accelerating  their  motion. 
And  we  have  the  defcription  of  a  military  chariot  in  Oflian,  fimilar  in  one  or  two  parti- 
culars, and  more  circumftantial.  It  is  the  chariot  of  a  Britifh  monarch.  "  The  car,  the 
cax{c)  of  war  comes  on  like  the  ilame  of  death!  The  rapid  car  of  Cuthullin,  the  noble 
fon  of  Semo  !  It  bends  behind  like  a  wave  near  a  rock  ;  like  the  fun-ftreaked  mill  of  the 
heath.  Its  fides  are  embolied  with  ftones,  and  fparkle  like  the  fea  round  the  boat  of  night. 
Of  poliihed  yew  is  its  beam ;  its  feat  of  the  fmootheft  bone.  The  fides  are  replenished 
with  fpears  ;  the  bottom  is  the  footftool  of  heroes !"  That  the  Britons  had  neither  dif- 
covered  gold  nor  filver  before  the  Romans,  hath  been  aflerted  ;  though  the  contrary  is  an 
abfolute  faft.  To  the  Romans,  gold  and  fiiver  were  the  reward  of  viftorj' — pretium  nj'ic- 
toria,  fays  Tacitus :  And  a  great  number  of  gold  chains  were  taken  from  Cara6tacus,  and 
triumphantly  carried  to  Rome.  Hence  it  appears,  that  the  Britons  were  furnifhed  with 
no  fmall  quantity  of  gold  ;  and  that  they  were  able  to  renne  and  work  this  metal  in  the 
time  of  Caraftacus.  Yf"t  it  is  prefumed,  from  the  filence  of  Csefar,  that  at  his  arrival, 
the  Britons  were  unacqu  anted  with  gold.  But  to  the  Britons  of  Danmonium,  gold  was, 
probably,  familhr  long  before  Caslar.  The  golden  hock  oi  the  Druids,  with  which  they 
cut  their  midetoe,  proves  that  they  had  artificers  who  woiked  this  precious  metal, — Vef- 
fels  for  containing  and  prelerving  liquids,  was  a  very  early  invention  in  all  countries. 
And  the  Danmonians,  it  is  faid,  were  fupplied  with  earthen  vefleis  by  the  Phenicians. 
But,  as  clay  is  found  in  various  parts  of  Danmonhim,  and  the  formation  of  it  into  veffels 
is  To  obvious  and  fo  funple  an  art,  I  have  no  doubt  but  pottery  was  known  to  the  Dan- 
monians before  the  exiftence  of  the  Phenician  trade.  Earthen  vellels  have  been  often  dif- 
covered  in  the  Britilh  fepulchres.  both  in  Devonfliire  and  Cornwall — fome  unbaked,  and 
others  burnt  in  the  kilns,  (i^)  Clay  is  eafily  moulded  into  form,  and  naturally  hardens 
in  the  fun,  or  by  fire  :  But  the  vitrification  of  fand  by  the  force  of  fire,  was  a  difcovery 
not  fo  obvious :  It  was  known,  however,  to  the  Phenician  fettlers,  if  not  to  the  aboriginal 
Britons.     Indeed,  the  firft  glafs-houfes  that  hiftory  mentions,  were  erefted  at  Tyre.     In 

Danmonium, 

{a)  *'  This  celt  was  difcovered  (fays  Mr.  Badcock)  In  the  military  road,  which,  branching  off  from 
the  caftle  of  Termolus,  rims  towards  Barnftaple,  not  by  the  prefent  turnpike  but  in  the  bottom  ;  nnd 
which,  avoiding  the  hills,  purfues  its  courfe  in  the  trad  of  the  ancient  road,  and  joins  the  prefent 
road  near  Landkey.  1  examined  the  celt,  which  is  a  perfed  ant'que :  And  the  giil  who  found  it, 
pointed  out  the  fpot  where  it  was  difcovered — immediately  after  fome  labourers  had  been  digging  for 
gravel  en  the  right  fide  of  the  road,  to  repair  the  road  itfclf."     Badccch  in  a  letter  to5iV  Ceo.  Tcttge, 

(i)  See  Borlafe's  Coins,  No.  22.  (f)  Offian     vol.  i,  p.  231,  232. 

(d)  It  appears  from  tiie  kiln-burnt  pottery  that  has  been  difcovered  in  the  Britifh  fepulchres,  and 
from  the  Britifli  word  cdyn,  or  avo:,  that  furnaces  for  baking  were  generally  known  among  tlic 
iVborigincs. 

{:)  See  Ronan-BriliQi  Feriodi 


The     BRITISH    PERIOD,  115 

Danmonium,  glafs  annulets  and  beads  of  glafs  have  been  often  difcovered.  And,  if  fiich 
ornaments  were  the  production  of  our  glal's  makers,  they,  doubtlei's,  applied  tneir  art  to 
dome.tic  u!es.  Dr.  itukeley  giving  an  account  oi  z  glafs  urn  dicovered  in  the  iiie  of  Ely 
in  the  year  1757,  obferves,  that  the  Bntcns  -jjere  Jamous  for  glafs -manuja^icry,  wnith  he 
looks  upon  as  a  itrong  prelumptive  proof  that  Britam  wa  ■  originally  peopied  froml  yre.(rt) 
On  the  whoie,  whether  we  adopt  the  Armenian,  tiie  lyrian,  or  the  Gallic  fyitem  of 
colonization,  we  may  be  affured,  taat  the  Britons  in  gea.ral,  and  the Danmoniiuis  in  par- 
ticular,  were  .nore  eiv.lizcd  a.id  ingenious  titan  tiiey  are  comm  nly  couhdcred.  This 
character  apnears  on  every  view  of  them  .-  Nor  is  it  oDlcurely  marked  in  thole  few  fimple 
notices  of  tlie  m-iwhaiiical  arts  in  Danmonium. 


SECTION    vni. 

FIEW  of  the  COMMERCE  of  DANMONIUM,  m  the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  Internal  Commerce — Trade  -ivifh  thePhemcians — When  firjl  ejlahlifhed — Where — Pbeniciatt 
Exports — Imports — Trade  n-vith  the  Greeks — Greek  Exports — Imports — Trade  nvith  the 
Romans — Greeks  of  MarfeiLes — Fajfage  from  Dicd:rus  Siculus  dfcuffed — Various  Emporia 
on  the  coajis  oj  Danmonium — Nenv  channels  of  Commerce  ope:ed  in  Guul — The  brujh  Trade 
no  longer  confined  to  Danmonium. — II.  Land-carriages  of  the  Danmonians — Ships — The 
Daumonians  not  ignorant  either  of  Shipbuilding  or  of  Na-uigaticn. — III.  The  Trade  of 
Danmonium  not  carried  on  by  nvay  oj  Barter,  according  to  the  common  opinion. — The  Dan-, 
monians  acquainted  <v:ith  the  ufe  of  Money — Conclufwn. 

IN  treating  of  the  commerce  of  this  ifland,  we  naturally  enquire,  -what  interccurfe  vpas 
niiiiitained  between  the  dirrerent  Britilh  liates  ;  before  we  look  abroad  to  their  foreign 
connexions.  But  on  this  fubjeft,  we  have  not  a  gleam  of  information  that  any  way  relates 
to  Danmonium.  Of  our  (i!))  internal  commerce,  therefore,  I  fhall  lay  nothing.  The 
firlt  foreign  people  with  whom  tiie  Britons  had  any  commercial  dealings,  were  the  Pheni- 
cians.  This  is  a  remarkable  circumllance.  We  Ihould  naruraly  fuppofe,  that  the  Dan- 
monians would  have  formed  the  firlt  connexions  with  their  neighbours  on  the  Continent. 
And  this  iuppofition  is  founded  on  the  convenience  ot  luch  a  conne::ion.  But  if  thofe 
Britons  were  no  other  than  a  colony  from  Gaul,  we  mull  neceffariiy  imagine  them  ac- 
quainted with  the  produft  of  their  original  countr}',  and  carrying  on  fome  Ipecies  of  trade 
with  their  progen  tors.(c)  The  contrary,  however,  w.is  the  caie — which  furnilhes  a  pre- 
{ijmptive  proof,  that  Danmonium  was  not  pcpied  from  tae  Lontuient.  Various  have 
been  the  coneclures  refpefting  the  time  when  the  rhenicians  traded  with  the  Britifh 
iflanders.  A  litt'-e  unprejudiced  attention,  however,  to  aacie.it  hillory,  both  facred  and 
profane,  would  have  long  fince  fettled  our  wandering  ideas  on  this  curious  fubecl.     Mr. 

'  Whitaker 

(a)  The  people  of  Sidcn  (whom  the  prophet  Zechariah  calls  the  -wife  SiJonlens)  were  eminently 
flcilled  in  the  moft  ufeiul  arts  and  fciences ;  if  we  may  regard  tlie  joint  authorities  of  Diodorus  Sicu- 
lus, Dionyfius  Perie?.  and  Pliny,  as  well  as  many  other  celebrated  hiftorians  of  ancient  times.  The 
Sidonians,  and  their  defcendants  the  Tyrians,  univerLUy  ftudied  afVronomy  and  navigation ;  they 
excelled  in  fhip-builiing  ;  fhey  invented  glaj's;  they  introduced  dyeing;  and  they  carried  architecture 
to  great  perfe£Mon.  In  xhe  people  of  Sidon  and  of  Tyre  originated,  in  a  great  meafure,  the  com- 
mercial intercourfe  of  the  'lorld.  Wherever  they  came,  they  endeavoured  to  diffufe  their  own  fpirit 
of  induflry,  and  to  propagate  civility  among  mankind 

[b)  Indeed,  it  is  probable,  that  the  Danmonians  had  fome  t  affick  in  cattle ;  fince  at  firft  the 
«'  riches  of  the  Britons,  like  thofe  of  the  Patriarchs,  fays  Mr.  Whitaker,  confined  almoft  .-ntirely  in 
their  cattle."  As  the  Britons  were,  alfo,  famous  for  the  neatnefs  of  their  balket-work,  the  Bafcau,  Oy 
I  conceive,  mud  have  been  an  article  of  internal  comme  ce,  before  their  acquaintance  with  tl  e 
Romans. 

(f)  And  emigrators  from  the  Continent,  wouH  probably  have  tranfplanted  the  Ifland  commo- 
dities thither,  and  carried  them  to  the  coafts  of  the  Mediterranean:  And  it  would  have  been  well 
known,  at  leift  in  Europe,  who  thefe  people  were,  and  whence  this  meichandize  came.  But  it  is 
a  fadl,  that  the  Phenicians  alone  fetched  thefe  valuable  goods  by  Jea^  from  a  people  and  a  country 
long  unknown  even  to  Afia,  and  ftiil  longer  unknown  to  Europe, 

Vol.  I.  ^  P* 


ii6  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

Whitaker  hath  placed  the  original  peopling  of  this  iiland,  even  after  the  probable  date 
of  the  PhenicJan  trade.  "  When  mankind  (fays  he)  {a)  were  difperled  from  the  plains  of 

Shinar, 

{■j)  In  a  letter  to  t'>ea'  thor;  whoconfiHers  Mr-Whitaker's  correfpondcnce  as  the  greateft  literary 
honor  he  ever  received.  Yet,  from  the  nature  of  his  hypothefis,  he  is  fometimes  obliged  to  differ  frcm 
this  firft  of  antiquarians. — In  the  Hillory  o.  Manchcfter  (vol.  a.  p.  i6S  —  oftavo  edit.)  Mr.  Whitaker 
fayi,  "  that  Midacritus  brought  the  firli  veflel  of  the  Fhenicians  to  our  coafto — that  Midacritus  of>ened 
the  firft  commerce  ot  the  Phenicuns  with  our  fathers.  And  tliis  commerce  bejan  (he  continues) 
before  the  time  of  Herodotus,  and  about  five  centuries  before  the  asra  of  Chrift,  At  this  time,  t!ie 
very  tirrt  population  of  Lnncafhire  wns  but  juft  begun — the  Belgse  were  not  yet  landed  in  the  i!l:ind 
—and  the  original  Britons  poffelFed  ali  the  fouthern  parts  of  it.  The  teftimony  of  Herodotus  (adds 
Mr.  ^Vhitaker  in  the  notes)  carries  the  Fheniclan  airival  up  to  440  or  450.  And  tlie  prpgrefs  of 
population  in  Britain  and  in  Ireland,  as  ir  has  hcen  already  and  ivill  hereafter  he  difcrlhed,  forbids  it  to 
be  carried  beyond  the  yea""  500."  In  anfvver  to  this,  I  mufl  firlt  obferve,  that  Richard  brings  the 
Phenicians  hii'.er  one  thoufand  years  before  Chrift,  which,  makes  the  difference  of  five  hundred  years 
from  Mr.  VVhitakers  account;  and  that  the  fame  author  dcfcribes  the  whole  ifland  as  then  inhabited 
and  cultivated,  t*~ough  Mr.  Whitaker  fays,  that  Lancaftiire,  five  hundred  years  afterwards,  was  juft 
beginning  to  be  colonized.  But  I  fii  Mild  almoll  fufpeit  from  Mr.Whitaker's  manner,  that  he  thinks 
the  commerce  might  pofTibly  have  begun  before  ;  fince  he  acknowledges,  that  his  preconceived  idea 
of  the  peopling  of  this  iflani^,  "  forbids  his  carrying  the  commencement  of  the  Phenician  trade  above 
the  year  500."  This  is,  undoubtedly,  true.  To  carry  the  co.nmencement  of  the  Phenician  trade 
above  the  year  500,  would  he  to  Ihake  his  own  theory  of  the  peopling  of  the  ifland.  Yet  I  have 
fcarcely  a  doubt  but  the  Phenician  commerce  begun  long  before  the  year  500.  The  tellimony  of 
Herodotus  himfclf,  as  ftated  in  the  text,  feems  to  prove  the  fa£V,  beyond  all  contr«di(ftion. — This  trade 
was  opened.  Mr.  Whitaker  fays,  with  the  natives  of  the  CafTneridts,  or  tlie  Scilly  Iflands.  And  he  is 
decidedly  of  opinion,  that  the  Scilly  Iflands  were  only  ten  in  number  (as  Strabo  alfeits)  at  the  time 
of  the  Plienician  trade  ;  and  that  Silura,  the  principal  ifland,  which  reached  almoii  to  the  fliore  of 
Cornwall,  and  which  ii  now  reduced  to  a  nuTnber  of  infignificant  ilets,  was  the  very  land  and  the 
only  land  where  Midacritus  firll  traded.  The  difference  between  the  ancient  and  ttie  preftut  ftate 
of  the  Scilly  Ifles,  may  be  accounted  for  (Mr.  Whitaker  thinks)  by  the  incroachments  of  the  fea. 
«  That  the  Tea  has  gnined  confiderably  upon  the  fliore  of  Yorkfhire,  Norfolk,  Suffolk,  and  Effex,  the 
eaftem  coaft  of  Kent,  and  that  of  Suffex,  Kampfhlre,  Dorfctlhire,  and  Corn\v..ll,  we  have  futScient 
proof  from  Camden  and  Borlafe.(i)  And  it  hps  vilibly  ufurped  upon  the  Scilly  Iflands,  within  the 
prefent  century.  Tiie  fea,  alfo,  has  gieatly  plundered  the  co-fts  of  North  Devonfliire.  (2)  Tliefe 
gradual  and  fucceflTive  depredations,  have  reduced  the  Scilly  Iflands  to  their  prefent  condition — have 
vvldened  the  narrow  ftrait  of  Solinus  into  an  expanfe  of  forty  miles,  have  covered  half  the  great 
ifland  of  Silura  with  the  waters  of  tlie  ocean,  and  left  only  its  mountains  and  promontories  rifmg 
like  fo  many  ilets  ahove  the  face  of  the  waves."  1  here  is  a  curious  paffage  reh.ting  to  tlie  Sc  lly 
Ifles  in  Hairlfon's  Defcription  of  England,  dated  15S6.  "  The  violence  of  the  fea  (fays  Harrifon) 
hat!i  devoured  the  greaiej}  part  of  Cornwall  and  Devonfhire  on  cither  fide :  And  it  doth  appear  yet 
by  good  record,  that  whereas  now  there  is  a  great  diftance  betweene  the  Syllan  Ifles  and  point  of 
the  Land's  End,  there  was  of  late  yeares,  to  fpeke  of,  fcarcelie  a  brooke  or  draine  of  one  fadame  of 
ivatcr  betweene  them,  if  fo  much,  as  by  thefe  evidences  appe.rttli,  and  are  yet  to  be  feene  in  the 
hands  of  the  lord  and  chiefe  ovi-ner  of  thofe  Ifle5."(3)  The  diftance  here,  betwixt  Cornwall  and  the 
Scilly  Ifles  (as  ^!i■.  Whitaker  obferves)  is  contracted  too  much.  But  the  whole  (fays  Mr.  Whitaker) 
ferves  ftronjly  to  (hew  the  original  diilance  between  them  to  have  continued  a  good  -.vLtle  hfloiv  the 
cor.quej}.  If  this  be  the  cafe,  the  incroachments  of  the  lea  were  not  gradual,  as  before  reprefented, 
but  rapid  beyond  all  credibilit)'.  A  good  while  below  the  conqueft,  the  fea  had  permitted  the 
Scilly  Ifles  and  the  continental  ifland  to  approximate  to  each  other,  as  they  did  in  the  days  of 
Strabo  or  of  Solinus.  A  good  while  below  the  conqueft,  therefore,  tho^e  forty  m'des  of  land,  whicli 
reached  almoft  to  our  Ihore,  and  the  place  of  wiiich  is  now  occupied  by  the  fea,  muft  have  been 
overwhelmed  and  loft  !  Su;cly  fuch  a'T  event  could  only  have  been  occafioned  by  fome  hidden 
and  vi-Jat  convulfion  of  nature  !  But  if  fuch  an  event  had  happened  fo  lately  and  within  our 
own  limes,  in  fo  Inftantaneous  a  manner,  it  would,  doubtlefs,  have  been  recorded.  I  would  infer, 
then,  from  thefe  circumftances,  that  the  queftion  relating  to  the  original  diftance  of  the  Scilly  Ifles 
from  this  con  intn:  il  ifland,  is  involved  in  much  doubt.  That  great  incroacliments  of  the  fea  have 
taken  place  in  thofe  parts,  fince  the  time  of  the  ancient  geographers,  I  readily  admit :  But,  in  my 
opinion,  it  would  be  a  fmitlel's  labor,  to  attempt  to  reconcile  the  prefent  flate  of  the  Scilly  Ifles 
with  fuch  dcfcriptlons  of  them  as  occur  in  Strabo  or  Solinus ;  fince  neither  Strabo  nor  Solinus 
had  any  accurate  idea  of  thtir  fituation  or  the  r  form. — Borlafe,  however,  feems  to  think  orher- 
wile  :  And  his  remarks  on  this  fubjeft  are  very  ingenious.  "  Thcfe  iflands  being  ^o  noted  among 
the  ancients,  1  expedled  to  find  among  the  inhab.tants  a  confcious  efteem  of  their  own  antiquity, 

and 

(1)  Camden,  c.  8gg.  467,  411,  i\  1,  237,  199,  205,  &.c.  (2)  5ec Camden,  p.  47  and  757. 

f,-;  Trcfixcd  to  Hohnglhead's  C.Hton.  p.  s^ib,   1586. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.       •  n; 

Siiinar,  they  marched  along  the  face  of  the  large  continent  of  Afia,  by  niovements.  gra- 
dual and  progrellive.     Nothing  was  done,  per  falium.     In  their  migrations  towa<  us'   [\ft 

weft, 

and  of  t!ie  figure  they  had  made  in  hlftory  before  the  other  parts  of  Britain  were  at  all  known, 
of  at  leait  regarded.  I  yvas  not  without  Ibnie  hoj>es  of  findina;  old  towns,  oJd  caftles,  perhaps 
inrciipcions,  and  works  of  grandeur;  but  there  is  nothing  of  this  kind;  the  ii. habitants  are  all 
ne.v  comers;  not  one  old  habitation,  nor  any  remains  ot  Phen2C:an  a.x\\  Grecian  art  in  the  ports,  ci- 
ties, towns,  temples,  or  fepulchres.  All  the  aitlquities  here  to  be  f^en,  are  of  the  rudert  D,uid 
times,  and  if  borrowed  in  any  meafure  fro.n  the  oneiitdl  traders  (fupetft  tion  being  very  infedlious) 
were  borrowed  fro.n  their  moft  ancient  and  fim^^le  rites.  We  are  not  to  thmk  however  but  that 
STILLY  wai  really  inhabited,  anJ  as  irequentl/ referred  to  anciently,  as  the  old  liilloriario  relate. 
All  the  Ifian^s,  by  the  remains  of  hedges,  w  .lis,  ho  fes  contii^uous  to  each  other,  and  a  number  of 
fejjulchral  bu<-ioii.^s  fhew  th.it  they  have  been  fully  cultivated  and  inhabited.  What  the  ancients  fay 
of  its  name,  cufloms,  trade  and  inhabitants,  I  fnall  not  trouble  you  with,  as  affording  us  few  lights  j 
you  will  find  all  this  coUeded  in  the  lail  edition  of  Camden,  pag.  151  ,  ;  bur  i  fliould  not  excufe  my- 
felf,  if  I  did  not  lay  before  you  tlie  hinti,  w  ich  things  themielves  fu/gefted,  and  which  our  own 
records  fupply  us  with  all.  That  t.'iefe  iflands  were  inh-bited  by  Britons  is  paft  all  doubt,  not  only 
from  their  neighbourhood  to  Britain,  but  from  the  £))-«/;W  mo-umcnts  ;  the  fevcral  rude  pillars,  circles 
oi  Jloncs-ereci,  /.i/Jx/jjn;  without  numbers,  rock-bafcns  ..nd  tolnicns,  all  mcnuiK-nts  Common  in  Cciff- 
luail  and  JVahs,  equal  evidencesoi  the  antiquity,  rel  gion,  and  or.ginal  of  the  eld  inbabirants ;  they 
have  alfo  many  Britip  names  at  prefent  for  their  little  iflandi(ij,  tenements  1,2),  k.:;rns^3),  and 
creek»(4.),  and  more,  doubtlefs,  have  been  forgot  v_r  joltled  out  by  modern  onei.  How  came  thefe 
ancient  inhabitants  then,  it  ,  ay  he  afked,  to  van i fh  fo,  as  that  the  prefent  have  no  pretenfions  to 
any  affinity,  or  connexion  of  any  k  nd  either  in  blood,  language,  or  curtoms  .?  Hnw  came  they  to 
difappear  and  leave  fo  few  traces  ol  trade,  plenty  and  arts,  and  no  pofterity  th^t  v>c  en  hear  of  be- 
hind them  .'  In  anf-.verto  which,as  this  is  the  mofl  remarkable  crifis  in  the  hiftory  of  thefe  )n..rrs,you 
will  excufe  me  if  1  enlarge  ;  and  if  1  make  ufe  of  the  fame  argu'nents  which  i  h.  d  the  honoui  l.'-ely 
to  lay  before  tliC  Royal  Society  5),  it  is  becdufe  they  have  the  fame  weight  with  me  now  as  they  had 
before,  and  the  courfe  of  the  prefent  fubjed  will  not  fuffer  {o  momentous  a  part  of  natural  hiftory  to 
be  omitted.  Two  caufes  of  the  extindion  of  the  old  inhabitants,  their  h^bit.it.ons,  anH\\cksof 
peace,  war,  and  religion,  occur  to  me;  the  gradual  advances  of  the  Tea,  and  a  fudden  fubmerfio^.  of 
tilt  l-ind.  The  fea  is  perpe  uaily  preying  upon  thefe  little  iflands,  and  leaves  nothing  where  it  can 
reach  but  the  fkeleton,  the  bared  rock.  It  h  ,s  before  been  mentioned  that  many  hedges  now  under 
water,  and  flats  whicn  ftretch  from  one  ifland  to  another,  are  plain  evidences  of  a  former  union  fubfift- 
ing  between  thefe  now  diftinft  iflands.  Hhtory  fpeaks  the  fame  truth.  '  The  ifles  of  Cassitzrides, 
fays  Strahc[6),  are  ten  in  number,  clofe  to  one  another,  one  of  them  is  defert  and  unpeopled,  the  reft 
are  inh  ibited  ;"  but  fee  how  the  fea  has  multiplied  thefe  iflands:  they  are  now  reckoned  more  than 
a'l  hundred  and  forty,  into  fo  many  fragments  are  they  divided.  The  continual  advances  which  the 
fea  makes  upon  the  land  at  prefent,  are  plain  to  all  people  of  pbfervation,  and  within  thefe  laft  thirty 
years  have  been  very  conllderable.  1  was  iliewn  a  palfage  which  the  (ca  has  made  within  thefe  feven 
years  through  the  fand-bank  that  fences  v>e  Abbey -pond,  by  which  breach,  upon  the  firft  high  tide 
and  violent  fiorm  at  eaft,  or  eafl-fouth-eafl,  one  may  venture  to  prophefy  that  this  flilJ,  and  now 
beautif'jl  pool  of  frefli  water,  will  become  a  branch  of  the  fea,  and  confequently  expofed  to  all  the 
rage  of  tide  and  ftorm.  Vi/hat  we  fee  happening  every  day  may  afTure  us  of  what  has  happened 
in  former  tl.nts,  and  from  tie  banks  of  fand  and  the  low  lands  gi  ing  way -to  the  tea,  and  the 
breaches  becoming  ftill  more  open  and  irremediable,  it  appears  that  there  has  been  a  gradual  declen- 
fion  and  di  nnnition  of  the/s/'/Wj,  and  as  gradually  a  progrelfive  afcenda- cy  o  tht  fluids  for  many 
ages.  Bat  lari^her,  ruins  and  hedges  ;.re  frequently  feen  upon  the  lliifting  of  the  fands  in  the  friths 
between  the  iflands,  and  the  low  lands  v.;hich  were  iormerly  cultivated,  (particularly  thofe  ffretching 
fromSA.MsoN,toTREscAw)  have  now  ten  feet  water  above  the  foundations  of  thei  hedges,  although 
at  a  reafonable  medium  we  cannot  fuppofe  thefe  foundations  formerly  to  have  been  k-fs  than  fix  feet 
above  high  water  level,  when  the  lands  were  dry,  arable  or  paflure  grounds  ;  this  theretore  will  make 
fixteen  feet  difference  at  leaft  between  their  ancient  and  prefent  level ;  there  are  feveral  phammena  of 
the  fame  nature  to  be  feen  00  thefe  iLo  es;  as  particularly  a  flraight  Im'd  ridge  like  a  caufeway,  run- 
ning crofs  the  Old  To-wn  Creek  in  St.  Mary's,  which  is  now  never  feen  above-water.  On  the  Ifle  of 
An  NET,  there  a^e  large  flones  now  covered  by  every  full  tide,  which  have  Rock-bafo-.s  cut  into  their 
furface,  and  which  therefore  muft  have  been  placed  in  a  much  higher  fituation  when  thofe  bafons,  in 

other 

(!)  Men-ir-warth,  Men-ar.widen,  Penbros,  Gwynhill,  Civynhillveor,  Enys-an-geon  Bighal,  Envs-withek,  Car-rcg-.acra 
Cri-bdwethen,  Cribanek,  Rofvean,  Rofveor,  Trcanmen,  Mcn-caer-Iow,  Trefcaw  Guel,  Hcnjak,  Arwolhel,  Sic. 
(2;  Treiio^vith,  Saljkee,  Treivarlethen,  Hablingy,  Tolmen,  &c. 
(3)   Karn-morv.-il,  Kirn-gwavel,  Karn-leh,  Pen-envs,  Mouiu-Todn,  &c. 
\4)   Porihmellyn,  Porthloe,  PorthcralTou,  Porthelik,  &c. 

(5)   In  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Birch,  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Society,  pn  the  alterations  which  the  IHands  cf  Sciily  have 
■Jetgone  fincc  xh?  time  of  the  ar.cierits.         fS;  Lib.  iii,  Gcojj. 


ii8  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

weft,  they  would  find  themfelves  at  length  obftrufted  in  their  advance,  by  thofe  waters 
that  divide  tlie  continental  ifle  of  Europe  from  Afia  and  Africa.     This  would  check  the 

forward 

other  places  generally  fo  high,  and  probably  of  fuperftitlous  ufe  for  receiving  the  waters  cf  heaven, 
were  worked  into  them.(i)  Again  —Tin  mines  they  certainly  had  in  the'e  iflands  two  hundred  years 
before  Chrirt.  What  is  became  of  t  lefe  mines  ?  for  tlie  mines  at  prefent  to  be  feen  ihew  no  marks  of 
tlieir  being  ancient.  To  account  for  thefe  alterations,  the  gradual  ddvances  and  flow  depred^t  ons  of 
the  fea  will  not  fuffice;  we  murt  therefore  either  allow  that  thefe  Imds,  fincc  they  were  culti-ated, 
and  built  upon,  have  funk  fo  much  lower  than  they  were  before,  or  elfe  we  muft  al'ow  that  fince  thtfe 
lands  were  fenc'd  and  cultivated,  and  the  houfes  and  other  works  now  under  ater,  the  w  mle  ocean 
has  been  rais'd  as  to  it's  furface,  lixteen  feet  and  more  perpend.cular;  which  latter  fupp->fitlon  will 
appear  to  the  learned  without  doubt  much  the  harder  of  the  two.  1  conclu>ie  there-.ure  th  .t  thefe 
iflands  have  undegene  fome  great  catafttophe,  and  befides  the  app.  rent  diminution  of  their  iflets  by 
fea  and  tempert,  muft  have  fuffered  greatly  by  a  fubfidence  of  the  land,  (the  common  confequence 
of  earthquakes)  attended  by  a  fudden  inund  ition  in  tliofe  parts  where  the  above  m  ntioned  ruinsj 
fences,  mines,  and  other  things  of  which  we  have  no  veftiges  now  remaining,  for  n.rly  ftood.  i  his 
inundation  probably  deflroyed  many  of  the  ancient  inhabitants,  and  fo  tenified  thofe  who  furvivedj 
and  had  wherewithal  to  fuppoit  themfelves  elfewhere,  that  tliey  forfook  thefe  iflands,  by  which 
means  the  people  who  were  the  yi/^oyig:?tes,  and  conefponded  fo  long  with  the  Pheniclans  Greeks,  and 
Romans  were  reduced  to  the  laft  gafp.  The  few  poor  remains  of  the  defolaticn  mii^ht  foon  lofe  fight 
of  their  ancient  profperity  and  eminence,  by  their  necelTary  attention  to  food  and  r.>yment ;  no  eafy 
acquifitions,  w  .en  their  low-lands,  ports,  and  towns  were  overwhelmed  by  the  fea.  Give  me  leave 
to  obferve  in  the  next  place,  that  this  inundation  may  be  traced  in  the  traditions  we  have  had  for 
many  ages  among  the  Cornijh,  and  ftands  confirmed  by  fome  phayymr.a  on  the  fliores  of  Cornivall. 
That  there  exifted  formerly  fuch  a  country  as  the  Lioneje,  ftretchmg  from  the  Land^s-End  to 
SciLLY  IsLis  is  much  talked  of  in  our  parts.  Ant-.n  nus  places  a  little  ifland  called  Lissia  here, 
but  whether  he  means  the  /^//"  ledge  of  rocks,  or  any  portion  oi  the  Solly  IsLrs  is  uncertain; 
however  there  are  no  appearances  of  any  Ifland  in  this  Channtl  at  prtfent.  K.v.  Ca>eiv,  in  his 
Survey  of  Cvrnwa.'l,  (pag.  3.)  argues  from  the  plain  and  level  furface  of  the  bottom  of  the  channel, 
that  it  mufl  at  one  time  have  been  a  plain  extended  above  the  (e^.  In  the  fainily  cf  Ire-viliar,  noW 
refident  In  Somcrjet  but  originally  Coynip^  they  have  a  flory.  that  one  of  their  anc^ftors  faved  himfclf 
by  the  help  of  his  horfe,  at  the  time  when  this  Lion  esse  waf  deflroyed  ;  and  the  arms  of  the  fami- 
ly(-)  were  taken,  as  'tis  faid,  from  this  fortunate  efcape.  Some  fifliermen  alfo  have  infifled  that 
in  the  Channel  betwixt  the  Lani's-End  and  Scilly,  many  fathoms  under  water,  there  are  the  tops 
of  houfes,  and  other  remains  of  habitations ;  but  I  prod  ice  thefe  arguments  only  as  proofs  of  the 
tradition  and  ftrong  perfuafion  among!  the  Comijh,  that  fuch  a  cauntry  once  exifled  and  is  no  bi  ried 
under  the  fea,  not  as  proofs  of  the  matter  of  fa(fl:,  for  of  that  I  am  very  dubious,  the  Cassiteridesj 
by  the  moft  ancient  accounts  of  them,  appearing  always  to  have  been  iflands.  J  rather  guefs  that 
this  fadition  of  the  Lkiuffe,  and  a  great  country  between  the  Lard^s-End  and  Scillys  being  over- 
whelmed hy  the  fea,  might  have  taken  its  rife  from  that  fubfidence  and  inundation  which  not  only 
thefe  iflands  have  certainly  undergone,  but  part  of  the  fliorc-s  of  Camivjll  alfo,  for  in  M-junt's-Bay 
we  have  feveral  evidences  of  a  like  fubfidence.  The  principal  anchoring  place  is  calld  a  Luk:[-i),  bur 
is  now  an  open  harbour.  St.  MichacPs  M:ur,T,  from  .t  s  Corr.'p  name(4),  mufl  have  flood  formerly 
in  a  wood,  but  at  full  tide  is  now  half  a  mile  in  the  fea,  and  no  tree  near  it.  Leland,  (Itin.  vol.  iii. 
pag.  7.)  talking  of  this  M  unt,  fays  that  an  '  ould  Legend  o  St.  Mk!:ml  fpeaketh  of  a  tounelet  in 
this  part,  now  defaced  and  lying  under  the  water;'  in  co^inrmation  of  which  alterations  I  muil 
obferve,  that  on  the  Beach  betwixt  the  Mount  and  the  town  oi'  Per xa nee,  when  the  fands  have  been 
difperfed  and  drawn  out  into  the  fea,  I  have  feen  the  tr.mks  of  feveral  large  trees  in  their  n  tturaf 
pofitlon,  (as  well  as  I  can  recoUeft)  worn  frriooth  juft  abo^e  their  roots,  upon  which  at  full  tide 
there  muft  be  twelve  feet  of  water;  neither  is  what  Mr.  Scatven  f^ys  in  his  MS  ( ;)  an  inconfider- 
able  confirmation  that  Ccrniva'.l  h  >s  loft  much  land  on  the  fjuthern  coaft,  that  there  WaS  '  a  valley 
bet  veen  Ramhead  and  Lss?,  and  that  tliere  is  to  be  fetn  in  a  clear  day,  in  the  bottom  of  the  fea,  a 
league  fro.m  the  ftiore,  a  wood  of  timber  lying  on  its  fide  uncorript.d,  as  i;  formerly  grown  therein, 
when  it  was  dry  ground  thrown  down  by  the  v  olence  of  the  w  .ves.  Of  this  fe>  eral  perfons  have 
ir.form'd  me  (fays  Mr.  Sc^ttocn)  who  have,  as  they  faid.  o  t.  n  feen  the  fane.'  So  th^t  the  fliores 
in  Scilly,  and  the  neighbouring  ftiores  in  Comioali  (not  forgetting  the  Wolflti^t  of  rocks  niidway 

between 

f  1^  "  A  perfon  taking  a  Turvey  of  the  Channel  in  the  year  1745,  took  one  of  his  Rations  at  low  \»ater.  as  he  told  me, 
upon  this  rork,  (viz-  the  Galph-ro(k,  midway  betu-ixt  Pmzame  and  Sciilyj  where  !:e  obferv'd  a  ca' ity  like  a  brewer's 
topper,  with  rubhiftj  at  the  bottom,  without  heing  able  to  aflign  a  caiife  for  ii'i  conii-g  theie."  Heath's  Account  of  Scilly, 
p.  157.  This  could  be  no  other  than  a  Rotk-bdlon,  and  confeqaently  this  rock  is  g  eatly  funk  by  being  now  entirely  cOvei'd 
with  the  fea,  at  le.:ft  nine  hours  in  twelve. 

(2;   Gules,   from  a  Felft  Wav  y  .\zure  and  Argent,  a  Horfe  iffuing  Ar.  (3!   Gwavas  Lake. 

U)  Carreg  luz  en  Kuz,  a  boary  rock  in  a  wood,  {5)  Pag.  <i,  10,  written  in  his  own  hand. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  u^ 

forward  fteps  of  colonization  :  And  Egypt,  by  means  of  that  little  junftion  of  land,  which 
connefts  the  continental  Ifle  of  Africa,  was  probably  peopled  before  any  part  of  Europe, 
^'avigation,  at  firft,  muft  have  confifted  folely  in  occaiional  exertions  for  croffing  fmall 
anns  of  the  fea.  A  voyage  from  Afia  to  Britain,  would  have  been  a  moft  miraculous 
effort  of  the  human  mind.     It  would  have  been  as  unnatural  as  miraculous. 

*'  The  land  was  all  before  them,  where  to  chule 

Their  place  of  reft,  and  providence  their  guide." 
Why,  then,  (hould  tney  attempt  long  voyages,  to  go  they  knew  not  whither ;  and  to  feek 
unfruitful  regions  near  the  pole,  when  they  had  all  the  foft  climes  of  Afia  before  them 
equally  uainaabited,  and  direClly  iaviting  them?     Nor  could  they,  if  they  would,  have 
taken  fuch  voyages.     The  Phenician  voyages  are  no  proof  to  the  contrary.     They  were 
in  a  much  later  age  ;  whatever  Richaid  his  faid  (who  makes  the  Graci  Phanicefaue  mer~ 
catores,  to  have  come  hither  about  the  original  plantation  of  the  illand)  as  the  Phenicians 
came  hither  only  a  little  before  Herodotus — he  mentioning  the  Caffiterides  and  their  tin 
but  not  knowing  where  th^fe  iflands  lay  ;  and  as  the  Grecians  came  long  afterwards.  We 
deceive  ourselves  on  thele  points,  by  ufmg  the  words  Grecians  imd  Pkenicians  at  I'aro-e. 

The 

bet"-een  both)  are  equal  evidences  that  there  has  been  a  fubfidence  of  the  land  In  thefe  parts, 
and  the  memory  of  the  inundation  which  followed  upon  that  fublidence  is  preferved  by  tradition 
though,  like  other  trudirions,  greatly  enlargd  and  obfciir'd  by  fable.  When  this  inundation  happen'd 
we  may  be  willing  to  know,  but  muft  be  without  hopes  of  knowing  with  any  certaJnty.  In  the 
time  of  Strahc  and  Dkd.  Sicuhs^  the  commerce  of  thefe  iOands  feem  to  have  been  in  full  vigour  • 
*  abundance  of  tin  carried  in  carts,'  fays  the  latter;  '  but  ten  iflands  in  all,  favs  Strahc,  and  rine  of 
thefe  inhabited.'  The  deftruftion  therefore  of  Scilly,  muft  be  plac'd  after  the  time  of  thtfe  au- 
thors ;  thdt  is,  after  the  Auguflan  age,  but  at  what  time  after,  I  find  nothing  as  yet  that  can  de^erl 
mine:  Plutarch  indeed  (of  the  ceftation  of  oracles)  hints  that  the  iflands  round  Britain  were  eenel 
rally  unpeopled  in  his  time ;  if  he  includes  Scilly  among  them,  and  was  riglitly  inform 'd,  then 
this  defolation  muft  have  happened  betwixt  the  reign  of  Trajan  and  that  of  Augtijlus.     There  was  a 


them,  and  there  ftands  the  new  WincbelUa.  But  I  muft  obferve  that  if  the  fubfidence  at  Scilly 
and  Mou  t's-Bay  were  fo  late,  we  could  not  have  been  without  fome  notice  of  it,  and  in  the  c  m- 
piaints  of  the  monks  of  Scillv  to  Edzuard  the  Firft,  we  muft  reeds  have  found  fo  great  a  misfcr- 
tune  particularly  mention'd ;  whereas  their  petition  was  only  for  prrteftioi.  from  pirates  and  fereien 
failors.  In  the  year  1014  happened  a  great  inundation,  of  which  the  Saxon  Chronicle  gives  this  ac- 
count: '  Hoc  item  anno  in  'vigiliis  Sandi  iv'Ichaelis  contigit  magna  ifta  Maris  Inundatio  per  latam  have 
terram  qua:  longius  exfatiata,  quam  ant-sa  urquam,  demerfit  multa  cfpida  et  homii.um  vumerum  inenarra. 
tilcmr  But  1  think  the  cataftrcphc  oi  thefe  iflands  cannot  be  placed  even  fo  late  as  this ;  f(,r  tlie  monks 
being  placed  here  either  by  AtLysa:,  in  the  year  53?,  or  fcon  after,  nothing  of  this  kind  ccld  have 
happened  but  it  would,  have  appeared  fomewhere  or  other,  in  the  papers  or  hiftory  of  Ta-vijlock  Abbey 
at  leaft,  if  the  mor.ks  of  Scilly  were  united  to  that  Abbey  at  it's  firft  foundation  in  the  year  061* 
I  therefore  co-'jedure  that  this  inundation  muft  have  happened  before  Athdftanh  time  j  and  by  the 
Irifr  annals  I  find  an  innndation  which  might  probably  have  affeded  the  fouth  oi  Ireland,  and  at 


lightni  g,  tl.at  above  a  thoufand  perfons  we.e  deftroyed  between  Corca-Bajcoi,,,  a  part  of  the  coi-nty 
of  Cork  then  fo  c.ll.-d,  aid  the  fea  fide.  At  the  fame  time  the  fea  broke  through  it's  banks  in  a  vio 
lent  manner,  and  overflowed  a  confiderable  tradt  of  land.  The  Ifl md  then  called  Imiifadda  or  the 
weft  coaft  of  this  county,  was  forced  afunder  and  divided  into  three  parts.  This  ifland,  fays  mv 
author,  hes  contiguous  to  two  others,  -vix..  Hare  IJland  and  Cajlw  IJland,  vxiiich  lying  in  a  ra'nge  and 
being  low  ground,  might  have  been  very  probably  then  rent  by  the  ocean.'(2l  '  As  this  inundation 
in  the  fouthem  parts  of  Lehnd  feems  well  atte<ted,  and  might  not  unlikely  have  reuc  ed  Ccrnivall 
and  Scilly,  I  fhould  tliJnk  it  moft  fuitable  to  hiftory,  that  this  was  what  reduced,  divided"  and 
deftroyed  the  Scilly  Iflands,  and  over-run  the  lands  on  Moi.nt's-Bay.''  Oljer-va tiers  en  the  a  -ient 
and  the  f>-\-Jrnt  Jlate  cf  the  IJlar.ds  of  Scd'y,  and  their  imfo- tance  to  the  frefcr.t  flate  of  Great  Br-  ^"n 
In  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Charles  Lyttelton,  LL.D.  Dean  of  Extttr,  and  F.R.S.  p.  S4  to  .9.— This  book 
is  fcarce ;  as,  indeed,  are  Borlafe's  Antiquities  and  Natural  Hiftory  of  Cornwall.  I  have  frequently 
made  extrafts,  therefore,  from  thefe  well-\,vritten  volumes,  for  the  gratification  of  my  readers. 

(1)  Norden's  Sun.'ey  of  Cornwall. 

(2)  Smith's  Natural  and  CivilHiftory  of  Cork,  vol.ii.  pag.  u.     Keating,  pag,  52,— An  old  Irifli  MS, 


120  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

The  men,  who  came  trading  to  our  Caffiterides,  were  not  proper  Phenicians  or  proper 
Greeks.  They  did  not  come  from  Tyre  and  the  Morea.  The  Greeks  were  the  Phoca:ans 
oi  Marfcilles,  and  the  Hhtnicians  were  the  Tyrians  of  Carthaee,  fettled  at  Cadiz.  And 
thus  conlldered  as  inhabit.inls  of  Marfeiiles  and  Cadiz,  thefe  bold  voyagers  can  lend  not 
a  Ihad  jw  of  pretext  to  a  voyage  from  Afia  to  Britain.  Eut  let  me  further  obferve  con- 
cerning theie  voyages  :  It  is  a  common  opinion,  which  I  fee  you  have  adopted,  that  thefe 
milcillcd  Phenicians  came  to  the  fouth-wellern  pirts  of  this  veiy  ifland  Britain.  They 
came  only  to  the  Caflltci iies — to  iliands,  which  btrabo  fliews  us,  were  ten  in  number. 
And  the  idea,  that  Cornwall,  and  perhaps  Devonniire,  were  confidered  as  iilands,  is  ail 
a  dream  of  romantic  autiqiiarianifin.  When  Devonfliire  and  Cornwall  were  as  well  known 
to  the  Romans  as  Kent  or  Someifet'hire  ;  they  itill  diftinguifhed  the  littlfe  iflands  of  the 
Caifitjrides,  from  the  great  Ifle  of  Britain."  Thefe  obfervations  of  Mr.  Whitaker,  will 
fuggeil  to  us  ibme  rertexions  on  tlie  Phenician  trade,  with  refpeil  both  to  time  and  place. 
Let  us  firil:  appeal  to  fcrlpture,  and  next  to  projane  hiftcry.  That  the  eaftern  people  were 
acquainted  with  navigation  and  commerce,  at  a  very  early  period,  is  plain  from  a  paflage 
in  the  Pfalms  :  '•  Iliey  that  go  down  to  the  lea  in  fliips  (fays  David)  and  occupy  their 
bnlineis  in  the  great  waters."  This  argues  an  eftabliflied  commerce  familiar  to  his  coun- 
trymen mare  tlian  one  thouiand  years  before  Chriil.  Let  us  look  to  ar.other  part  of  Icrip- 
ture  :  '•  Tayjliijh  (a)  was  thy  merchant  (exclaims  the  prophet  Ezekiel)  by  reafon  of  the 
multitude  of  all  kinds  of  riches ;  with  filver,  iron,  tin,  and  lead  they  traded  in  thy 
f.iirs,""  the  fairs  of  J'yre.  This  larjhijh  was  the  city  of  TarieJJ'us,  fituated  near  the  pillars 
of  Hercules,  and  pallelt  by  the  Carthaginians;  wlio  found  it  a  very  convenient  fituatioti 
for  maintaining  a  commercial  intercourie  with  tfteir  original  countrymen  of  'Tyre.,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  with  the  Britijh  IjJes,  on  the  other.  Hence  they  were  enabled  to  fupply 
the  markets  of  I'yre  with  iron  and  tin;  and  the  weft  of  Britain,  with  tlie  Tyrian  purple  5 
and  both. Tyre  and  Britain,  with  the  commodities  of  Spain.  VelTels,  we  find,  built  for 
longer  voyages,  and  greater  burthens,  were  named  thejhips  ofTarjhiJh,  becaufe  they  were 
built  like  tlie  Ihips  oh  Tadhiili  properly  fo  called.     Thus  Solomon's  navy  (wliich  traded 

to 

-  (<i)  Lowtb,  in  his  notes  on  Ifaiah,  has  thrown  fome  light  on  this  fubjciS,  and  on  the  Navigation 
sftke  ancients,  P.  26.  Note  on  chap.  ::il.  ver.  13  — 16.'  "  Ships  of  TarHiifli  are  in  fcripture  fre- 
quently ufed  hy  a  mttonymy  frr  fliips  in  general,  erpecially  fuch  as  are  employed  in  carrying  011  traffic 
between  diftsnt  countries ;  as  Taifliifh  was  the  moft  celebrated  mart  of  thofe  times,  frequented  of 
old  by  the  Phenicians,  and  the  principal  fouice  of  wealth  to  Judea  and  the  neighbouring  countries. 
Tlie  learned  feem  now  to  be  perfefHy  well  ag.eed,  tliat  Tarfhlfh  is  Tarteffus,  a  city  of  Spain,  at  the 
moQtIr  of  tlie  river  Baetis;  w'lcnce  t'lC  Piienicians,  v.  hofirft  opened  this  trade,  brought  filver  and 
tokt,  (Jer.  X.  9.  Ezek.  xxvii.  i-z.)  in  vviiich  that  country  then  abounded;  and  purfuing  tliclr  voyage 
ftiil  further  to  the  Cafllterides,  (Bochart.  Canaan,  i.  cap.  39.  Huet,  Hift.  de  Commerce,  p.  194.) 
they  brought  from  thence  lead  and  tin.  Tarfhifh  is  celebrated  in  fcripture  (2  Cliron.  viii.  17,  18. — 
ix.  a».)  for  the  trade,  whicli  Solomon  carried  on  thither,  in  ccnjuni^ion  with  the  Tyrians.  Jcho- 
faphat  (i  Kings,  xxii.  48.  2  Chron.  xx.  36.)  attempted  afterwards  to  renew  that  trade  ;  and  from 
the  account  given  of  his  attempt,  it  appears,  that  his  fleet  was  to  fail  from  Eziongeber,  on  the  Red 
f«i:  they  mu.1  therefore  havr;  dengned  to  fail  round  Africa,  as  Solomon's  fleet  probably  had  done 
before;  (fee  Hul-^,  Hif.oi  e  dc  Commerce,  p.  32.)  for  it  was  a  three  year's  voyage ;  (2  Chron. 
ix.  21.)  and  they  brouglu  gold  from  Ophlr,  probably  on  the  coaft  of  Arabia,  filver  from  Tarteffus, 
and  ivory,  apes,  and  peacocks,  from  Africa.  It  is  certain,  that  under  Pharaoh  Necho,  about  two 
hundred  years  aften\^ard,  this  voyage  v/as  made  by  the  Egyptians,  (Hciodot.  iv.  42.)  they  failed  from 
the  Red  Sea,  and  returned  by  the  rv^editerranean,  and  they  performed  it  in  three  years  ;  jult  the 
fame  time  that  the  voyage  under  Solomon  had  taken  up.  It  appears  likewife  from  Pliny,  (Nat.  Hifl. 
1 1. 6 ;.)  that  the  palfage  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  was  kno  n  and  frequently  pradlifed  before  lus 
time,  by  Hanno  ilie  Caith-.g;nian,  wlien  C  .rtl^age  was  in  its  glory ;  and  by  one  Eudoxus,  in  the  time 
of  Ptolemy  i^athyru-;,  king  of  Egypt:  and  Ca.lius  Antipater,  an  hiflorl-an  of  good  credit,  fomewhat 
earlier  than  Pliny,  teftifies,  that  he  h.d  fecn  a  merchant,  who  had  made  the  voyage  from  Cades  to 
Ethiopia.     The  Portugucfe  under  Vafco  de  C;ama,  near  three  hundred  years  ago,  recovered  this 

ravigation,  a''ter  it  hod  been  intermitted  and  loft  for  many  centuries." P.  130.  Note  on  Chap. 

xxiii.  I .  Howl,  O  ye  Ships  of  Tarfhifh.]  "  This  prophecy  denounceth  the  deflrudion  of  Tyre  by 
Nebuchadnezzar.  It  opens  with  an  addrcfs  to  the  Tyrian  negotiators,  and  failors  at  Taifhifh,  (Taj«p 
tcffus  in  Spain)  a  place  which,  in  the  courfe  of  their  trade,  they  greatly  frequented.  'Ihe  news  of 
the  dertruftion  rf  Tyre,  by  Nebuch  -.r^nezzar,  is  faid  to  be  brought  to  them  irom  Chittim,  the  iflands 
and  coafts  of  the  Mediterranean  :  '  lor  tiie  1  yrians,  (fays  Jerom  on  ver.  6.)  when  they  faw  they 
had  no  other  means  of  efcaping,  fled  in  iheir  fliips,  and  took  refuge  in  Carthage,  and  in  the  iflards 
of  the  Ionian  and  Egean  fea.'  From  wlience  t!ie  news  would  fpre"d  and  reach  Tarfhifh:  fo  aifo 
jarehi  on  the  place,     lliis  feems  to  be  t)ie  moft  probable  mterpretation  of  this  verfe." 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  121 

to  Ophir,  or  the  Eaft  Indies,  for  ivory,  apes,  and  peacocks,  more  th^  one  thpufand  years 
before  Chrlll)  was  called  a  navy  ofTarJhiJh.  And  thus  Jehofaphat's  navy,  defigned  for 
a  voyage  to  Ophir,  but  unfortunately  broken  at  Eziongeber,  were  ct\\\^A  Jlnps  of  Tarjhijh. 
This  city  of  Tarlhilh,  io  convenient  for  tlie  Britilh  trade  with  its  Tyrian  colony,  is  men- 
tioned by  Polybius  under  the  name  of  Tarfelum  ;  where  the  hiftorian  is  reciting  the  words 
of  a  league  between  the  Romans  and  Carthaginians. 

To  return  to  our  Briiijh  commerce — I  think  we  may  plainly  infer,  that  if  the  trading 
veffels  from  Tarfhifli  were  fo  famous  in  the  time  of  Solomon,  as  to  impart  their  name  by 
way  of  dillinftion  to  the  commercial  navies  of  thofe  days,  the  Tyrians  or  Carthaginians 
muft  have  been  long  before  exeiciied  in  the  arts  of  navigation  and  commerce.  Jefus, 
the  fon  of  Sirach,  fpe.aking  of  Solomon's  glorj',  fays  :  "  By  the  name  of  the  Lord  God, 
which  is  called  the  Lord  God  of  Ifrael,  thou  didft  gather  gold  as  tin,  and  didft  multiply 
filver  as  lead" — v.hich  fliews,  that  tin  in  thole  days,  was  brought  in  great  quantities  to. 
the  holy  land.  And  it  is  remarkable,  that  tin  and  lead,  in  this  place,  are  both  mentioned, 
and  dillinguiihed :  Yet,  charafteriftically  different  as  they  are,  the  ancients  often  niif- 
took  the  one  metal  for  the  other.  By  the  {hips  Solomon  lent  out,  he  had  a  return,  in 
one  voyage,  of  no  lefs  than  four  hundred  and  twenty  talents  of  gold.  It  is  laid  in  Kings  : 
"  money  was  in  Jerufalem  as  Jlofies  for  plenty."  Tin,  therefore,  muft  have  almoft  co- 
vered the  ftreets  of  Jerufalem,  to  be  fpoken  of  in  the  fame  figurative  way.  From  thefe 
palTages,  we  fee  that  commercial  voyages  were  of  high  antiquity  ;  that  the  chief  articles 
of  commerce  were  filver,  iron,  tin,  and  lead  ;  and  that  thofe  articles  were  in  great  abun- 
dance in  Judea,  even  in  the  reign  of  Solomon.  The  quefticJn  is,  whence  thofe  articles, 
were  imported  :  If  tin,  in  its  mineral  ftate,  were,  at  this  time,  unknown  to  all  other 
countries  but  our  own  ;  there  is  ample  reafon  to  afTert,  that  we  fupplied  all  the  markets 
of  Europe  and  Afia  with  thi^  commodity,  in  the  earlieft  ages. 

If  we  recur  to  heathen  authors,  we  find  Homer,  who  flouriflied  more  than  nine  hun- 
dred years  before  Chrift,  exprefsly  noticing  ti/i,  by  its  Greek  appellation  Kxc-aflBpos.  That 
the  Greeks  had  tte  ufe  of  tin,  and  adopted  the  word  Kaca-ai^kfos  to  exprefs  it  before  the 
time  of  Homer,  is  evident  from  his  mention  of  it,  more  than  once,  among  the  metals  em- 
ployed in  the  fabrication  of  the  fiiield  of  Achilles  ;  and  alfo  in  the  greaves  for  his  hero's 
legs.  But  that  the  Greeks  were  unacquainted  with  the  htuation  of  the  iflands  that  pro- 
duced this  metal,  five  hundred  years  after  the  time  of  Homer,  is  as  evident  from  Hero- 
dotus, who  wrote  more  than  four  hundred  ^ears  before  the  birth  of  our  Saviour,  and  who 
confcifes  his  ignorance  of  tiie  iilands  called  the  Ca.Titerides,  whence  their  tin  came,  but 
fuppoles  that  it  was  brought  to  them  (as  he  fays  amber  was)  from  the  remoteft  parts  of 
Europe. (<?)  Otio  ir,a-iis  oia^  Kx^^crflsfioxs  sacTxi,  £x  ruv  o  y.xTijiiifo^  y,ij.iv  (poiloL,  i^  isyjx-^s  o' 
wv  ■/.xrT'j'i^cps  -/iixDi  (potlx,  xxt  TO  sAf/c'ipv.  From  which  conjefture  of  Herodotus,  concerning 
the  Caffiterides,  we  may  plainly  infer,  that  tliey  had  been  difcovered  by  the  Phenicians 
fome  time  before  he  wrote  ;  initead  of  concluding  with  Carte  from  this  pafiage,  that  the 
Phenician  trade  with  the  Britons  for  tin,  did  not  exift  till  the  very  period  of  Herodotus. 
Carte's  is  a  moft  ridiculous  fuppolition.  For  furely  their  tin-trade,  the  particulars  of 
which  the  Phenicians  were  interefted  in  concealing  from  other  nations  (fo  that  we  need 
not  wonder  at  the  ignorance  of  Herodotus)  could  never  have  been  fo  far  fettled  with  the 
Britons,  in  the  courfe  of  a  few  years,  as  to  admit  of  a  negotiation  between  the  Phenicians 
and  Greeks,  and  a  regular  interchange  of  commodities  in  confequence  of  this  commercial 
eftablilhment.  Before  the  Phenicians  difcovered  the  Cafliterides,  they  muft  have  taken 
feveral  adventurous  voyages,  perhaps,  to  little  purpofe.  On  the  difcovery  of  thofe  iflands, 
we  cannot  fuppole,  that  they  ia  a  very  fhort  time  determined  their  bufmefs  w  ith  the  Bri- 
tons. And  it  is  likely,  that  when  this  commerce  was  abfolutely  fixed,  fome  little  time 
elapfed  before  the  Phenicians  had  recourfe  to  the  Greeks,  for  the  dilpofal  of  their  tin. 
Even  when  this  intercourfe  was  fettled,  the  ufe  of  our  tin  was  hardly  adopted,  throughout 
all  Greece,  in  an  inftant :  And  it  was  JmnUiar  to  the  Greeks  in  the  time  of  Herodotus. 
So  that  Carte's  fuppofition  is  full  of  abfurdit)'.  May  we  not  imagine  with  much  more 
realbn,  that  tlie  Phenicians  weie  acquainted  with  the  CalTiterides  before  the  time  of  Homer ; 
fmce  we  have  Homer's  own  authority  to  fay,  that  tin  was,  in  his  days,  well  known  to  his 
countrymen  ?  This  correfponds  with  Richard,  and  carries  us  as  far  back  as  the  age,  when 

our 

{a)  Herodotus.  Thalia.  Ill,  p.  250,  253.  (Edit.  Glafg.  1761-) 
Vol.  I.  Q_ 


yzz  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

our  ifland,  according  to  Mr.  Whitaker,  was  firft  peopled. (ij)  Thofe  Phenicians  then,  who 
traded  here,  were  by  no  means  the  modern  Phenicians,  but  Phenicians  of  a  far  more  an- 
cient race.  How  the  Phenicians  or  Tyri.ms  could  have  performed  thele  long  voyages  fron; 
Alia  to  Britain,  may  be  a  qaeftion  of  .litficulty :  But  from  the  paflages  I  have  already  quo- 
ted, it  is  plain  that  they  were  (killed  in  navigation.  That  their  defcendants,  the  Cartha- 
ginians, were  ikilful  pilots,  e  have  abundant  proof.  And  if,  as  btrabo  tells  us,  the  cap- 
tain of  a  Carthaginian  velVel,  feeing  himfelf  followed  by  a  Roman  fleet,  chofe  to  Jfeer  afalfe 
courj'e,  and  land  upon  another  coaft,  rather  than  fhew  the  Romans  the  way  to  Britain  j  they 
certa.nly  had  the  ufe  cf  the  compafs.  And  the  ufe  of  the  compafs  muft  have  been  derived 
to  them  from  their  progenitors  the  Tyrians.  If  it  be  objefted,  however,  that  the  Cartha- 
ginians, had  they  poifeired  the  knowledge  of  the  compafs,  could  not  eafiiy  have  concealed 
it  frcm  the  Rom-ins,  and  other  nations  with  whom  they  were  comiefted,  I  would  hint  to 
the  objedor,  the  commercial  fecrecy  of  the  ancient  nations.  The  precaution,  indeed,  of  the 
Carthaginians,  to  guard  the  compafs  from  common  obfervation,  was,  at  length,  the  very 
means^,  perhaps,  of  their  lofmg  the  ufe  of  it,  themfelves.  The  knowledge  of  it  was  in- 
trufted  to  a  few  -.  From  thefe  few,  it  was  imperfectly  tranfmitted  to  others :  And  the 
fecret,  thus  feebly  retained,  funk  gradual'y  away  with  the  poflefibrs  of  it.  But,  whether 
the  lofs  of  the  compafs  were  owing  to  this  or  any  other  caul'e,  we  need  not  here  enquire. 
JJo  perfon,  who  is  not  ignorant  of  the  hiitory  of  the  arts,  will  doubt  the  exiftence  of  an 
art  in  one  period,  becaufe  it  hath  difappeared  in  anotlier.  The  ancient  nations  were 
acquainted  with  various  arts,  which  hav^  expired,  and,  after  the  lapfe  of  ages,  have  revi- 
ved. That  the  voyages  of  the  Phenicians,  were  not  mere  coajiing  voyages,  may  be  in- 
ferred, I  think,  from  their  vionopoly  of  our  trade  for  fe-veral  centuries.  For  a  long  fpace 
of  time,  they  carried  on  a  regular  trade  with  this  ifland,  to  the  exclufion  of  all  other 
nations.  Even  our  neighbours  the  Gauls  were  unacquainted  with  them.  But  if  the 
Phenicians  had  been  unskilled  voyagers,  timidly  pnrluing  the  line  of  the  coafts,  it  is  im- 
poflibie  that  they  could  have  kept  their  fecret,  long.  They  would  have  frequently 
cxpoled  themfelves  to  the  obfervation  of  the  maritime  people.  And  curiofity,  once 
awakened,  never  acquiefces  in  ignorance.  Their  periodical  return  would  have  been 
expected  and  eagerly  watched ;  and  their  whole  fcheme  of  navigation  would  have  been 
unavoidably  detected.  Such  a  difcovery  would  naturally  have  taken  place;  even  if,  by 
a  fingular  good  fortune,  they  had  efcaped  the  dangers  of  the  lea  for  hundreds  of  years,  nor 
ever  fuffered  (hipwreck  on  the  coalls»  fo  as  to  expofe  their  cargo  to  the  eye  of  the  jealous 
merchant  or  of  the  fiivage  plunderer,  and,  in  either  cafe,  lay  open  their  deftination. 
This  much  for  the  time.{b) 

With  refpeft  to  the  place  or  places,  whence  our  tin  was  fhipped  in  the  time  of  the 
phenicians,  many  fruitlefs  enquiries  have  been  made.  Some  fay  it  was  fliipped  fi-om  th§ 
Cafllterides,  without  being  able  to  determine,  what  the  Cafliterides  were  :  Others  aflert, 
that  it  was  exported  from  Falmouth,  or  from  St.  Michael's  Mount,  or  from  the  Land's^ 
End.  The  Greek  and  Roman  writers  were  fo  ignorant  of  geography,  and  their  de- 
fcriptions  are  confequently  fo  perplexed,  that  this  point  mult  ever  remain  a  matter  of 
coniecture,  as  far  as  it  depends  on  their  uncertain  tellimony.  As  the  ancients  had  fuch 
obfcure  notions  of  the  fituations  of  countries,  they  muft  have  been  neceflarily  indiftinft 
in  giving  names  to  the  places  they  difcovered.  Thus  Mela  mentions  fome  ifles  of  the 
northern  ocean,  which  he  fays,  "  quia  plumbo  abundav.t,  uno  omties  Cajfiterides  appeU 
Jant/\c)  Why  then  might  not  the  tin-diftricts  of  Devon  and  Cornwall  be  included, 
together  with  the  Scilly  Ifles,  under  the  name  of  Cafliterides  >    Strabo,  it  is  true,  fays, 

that 

(a)  And,  furely,  the  Britons  were  long  in  pofleflion  cf  the  Ifland  before  their  connexion  with  thp 
Phenicians  :  For,  as  I  have  already  obferved,  it  is  impoffiblc  that  tlie  Britirti  ifles  could  in  a  moment 
be  difcovered,  peopled,  and  cultivated  for  the  fubfiftence  of  their  inliabitants,  and  explored  for  their 
mineral  treufures,  and  again  found  out  by  eaftern  adventurers,  and  frequented  for  their  tin-manu- 
fa£ture  ! 

(i)  According  to  fome  accounts,  the  Phenicians  (after  they  had  become  acquainted  with  all  the 
coafts  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  had  planted  colonies,  and  built  cities  on  feveral  parts  of  thefe  coafts, 
and  h  d  carried  on  an  extenfive  trade  with  all  the  countries  bordering  upon  that  fea)  palTed  the  Straits 
cf  Gibraltar,  more  than  1200  years  before  the  chriAian  aera  (Strabo  fays,  foon  after  the  Trojan  war) 
anH  puflied  their  difcoveries  both  to  the  right  and  left  of  thofe  Straits.  On  their  right  hand,  they 
built  the  city  of  Cadiz,  or^  a  fmal)  ifland  near  the  coaft  of  Spain,  and  thence  profecutcd  iheir  difco- 
veries and  their  trade  with  great  fpirit  and  advantage,  as  far  as  the  Britirti  iflands. 

(c)  Mela  feems  to  have  been  almoft  as  ignorant  of  thefe  iflands,  as  Herodotus. 


The    BRITISH   PERIOD.  laj 

that  the  Caffiterides  are  ten  in  number  r  But  this  was,  probably,  a  random  afTertlon.  It 
ftands  unconfirmed  by  the  teftimony  of  any  other  writer  :  And  there  are,  at  prefent, 
more  than  one  hundred  and  forty  illands  that  go  by  the  name  of  the  Scilly  Ifles.  Nor 
/hould  it  be  forgotten,  that  Caefar  taices  not  the  leaft  notice  of  the  Scilly  IfleS  ;  which  he 
certainly  would  have  done,  had  they  monopolized,  for  centuries,  the  tin  trade  of  the 
world. (fl)  That  Richard  of  Cirencefter  underftood  Devonfhire  and  Cornwall  to  have 
been  included  in  the  Cafliterldes,  is  plain  from  his  defcription  of  Danmonium.  He  tells 
VIS,  that  the  country  of  the  Danmonii  abounded  in  minerals,  and  was  frequented  in  the 
earliej}  ages,  firlt  by  the  Phenicians  and  atcerwards  by  the  Greeks,  on  account  of  the  tin 
which  it  produced  in  great  abundance.  As  a  proof  of  this  commerce,  the  three  chief 
promontories  of  the  Danmonii,  he  fays,  were  ealkd  Helenis,  Ocrinum,  and  Kp/«  fd.flwrror; 
W'hich  three  names  he  adds,  were  partly  of  Greek,  and  partly  of  Phenician  origin.  Im- 
mediately afterwards,  he  notices  the  Cafliterides,  without  faying  a  word  of  their  tin  or 
their  commerce.  "  Ultra  brachium  in  oceano  fit  a  fuyit  infulcs  Sygdiles,  qua  etiam  Oejiro- 
minides  et  Ca/Titerrides  njocabajitur,  dic^a-.'^b)  In  (hort,  we  have  no  foundation  for  allert- 
ing,  what  h  commonly  believed,  that  the  Phenicians  frjf  traded  with  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Scilly  liles.  And  if  we  place  the  original  trade  at  Plymouth,  or  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Tamar,  we  fltall  approach,  I  think,  verj'  near  the  tiuth. 

Among  the  Phenician  exports,  the  moft  plentiful  commodity  was,  evidently,  our  tin. 

Lead 

(a)  "  That  the  Phenicians  accounted  their  trade  to  the  Scilly  Irtands,  for  tin,  of  great  advantage, 
and  were  very  jealous  of  it,  is  plain  from  what  Strabo  fays(i),  that  a  mafter  of  a  Phenician  vefiel 
bound  hither,  perceiving  that  he  was  dodged  by  a  Roman,  ran  his  fhip  afhore,  rilking  his  lite,  Ihip 
and  cargo  (for  which  he  was  remunerated  out  of  the  public  treafury  of  his  country)  rather  than  he 
would  admit  a  partner  in  this  traffick  by  flievving  him  the  way  to  thefe  iflands.  The  Romans,  how- 
ever, perfifting  in  their  refolution  to  have  a  fhare  in  this  trade,  at  laft  accomplished  it.  Now,  plain 
it  is,  that  the  few  workings  upon  Trefcaw,  were  not  worthy  of  fuch  a  competition  :  Whence,  then, 
had  they  their  tin  ?  I  vsill  anfwer  this  queftion  as  well  as  I  can.  Some  tin  might  have  been  found 
in  the  low  grounds,  wafhed  down  from  the  hills,  and  gathered  together  by  the  floods  and  rain — fome 
found  pulverized  among  the  fands  of  the  fea-fhore,  wafhed  out  of  veins  covered  by  the  fea,  and 
thrown  in  upon  the  fand  by  the  fame  reftlefs  agent.  In  Cornwall  we  often  find  tin  in  the  like  fitua* 
tion.  There  may  be,  alfo,  tin-veins  in  thofe  cliffs  which  we  did  not  vifiti^a),  although  the  inhabit- 
ants, upon  enquiry,  could  not  recoUeft  that  they  contained  any  thing  of  that  kind  5  as  the  Guel-Hitt 
of  Brehar,  Gaf/ Jfland,  the  name  Guel  (or  Huel)  in  Cornifh  fignifying  a  working  for  tin.  Other 
tin  they  had  from  their  mines;  for  though  their  mines  at  prefent  extant  are  neither  ancient  nor  nu- 
merous, yet  the  ancient  natives  had  mines,  and  worked  them  as  appears  from  D'lod.  S-cu/us{2)i  and 
from  Stral>o{^),  who  tells  us,  that,  '  after  the  Romans  had  difcovered  a  paffage  to  thefe  iflands,  Publiut 
Crajfus  having  failed  thither  and  feen  them  work  their  mints,  which  were  not  very  deep,  and  that 
the  people  loved  peace,  and  at  their  leifure  ( 1;)  navigation  alfo,  inftruded  them  to  carry  on  this  trade 
to  a  better  advantage  than  they  had  done  before ;  though  the  fea  they  had  to  crofs  was  wider  than 
betwixt  it  and  Britain;^  intimating  (if  I  iinderftand  him  rightly)  that,  before  that  time,  the  Fher.i' 
dans  and  Greeks  had  engrofl"ed  the  fole  benetit  of  buying  and  exporting  their  tin,  and  that  Pui/Ius 
CraffUs,  feeing  their  mines  fhallow,  taught  them  hov/  to  purfue  the  ore  to  a  greater  depth  ;  and,  find- 
ing the  inhabitants  peaceably  difpofed  with  regard  to  their  neighbours,  and  therefore  the  fitter  for 
commerce,  and  very  apt  at  navigation,  and  therefore  able  themfelves  to  carry  the  produd:  ot  their 
country  to  market,  encouraged  them  to  enter  upon  this  gainful  trade,  and  depend  no  longer  on  fo- 
reign merchants  and  fliipping,  although  it  was  fomewhat  farther  for  them  to  fail  to  the  ports  ot  Gau/f 
Spain,  and  Italy,  than  to  the  coafts  of  Britain,  which  had  till  that  time  been  their  longelf  voyage. 
Befides  the  tin  therefore,  which  they  founr".  granulated  and  pulverized  in  valleys  and  on  the  fea-lhore, 
they  broke  tin  out  of  their  mines,  though  thefe  mines  are  not  now  to  be  found  ;  and,  in  the  lart  place, 
it  mufl  not  be  forgotten  that  the  ancients  had  great  part  of  iheir  tin  from  the  neighbouring  ccaits  o£ 
Corniuall,  famous  for  their  tin-trade  as  anciently  as  the  time  oi  Augujius  CteJ'ar ;  and  whoever  fees 
the  land  of  Coniivall  from  thefe  iflands,  muft  be  convinced  that  the  Phenicians  and  other  traders 
did  moft  probably  include  the  weftern  part  of  Corniuall  araong  the  iflands  called  Cassitesides. 
Orulius  is  plainly  of  this  opinion,  and  makes  Comnvall  a  part  of  the  Cassiterides  :  And  Dicdorus 
Siculus{6),  does  as  plainly  confound  and  in  his  defcription  niix  the  weftern  paits  of  Cornioall  and  the 
Cassiterides  indifcriminately  one  with  the  other."     Bo>-lafe''s  Objer-vati^ns,  8cc.  p    721076. 

{b)  Ricard.  p.  20,  21. 

(1)  Geog.  Lib.  iii.  (2)   1  have  been  lately  informed,  that,  under  one  of  the  cliffs  of  Annet,  there  is  a  load,  In  which 

there  is  the  appearance  of  tin,  and  that  it  looks  as  if  it  hid  been  .0  k'd.  (3)  Lib.  v.  Ch.  2.  (4)  Geogr.  Lib,  III. 

(5)  i.e.  when  they  were  not  eoiployed  about  their  tin.         (6)  Lib,  iv.  pag.  30J,  Sdit.Han-  1604. 

Vol.  I.  Q^a 


124  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

Lead  was,  alfo,  an  article  of  exportation.  And  not  the  leaft  valuable  article  was  thfc- 
fkins  of  wild  and  tame  animals — under  which  was,  probably,  comprehended  the  wool  of 
the  Britifli  ftieep — of  great  ufe  to  the  Phenicians  in  their  woollen  manufadtiu^es.  In  return, 
the  Britons  received  from  the  Phenicians,  lalt,  brafs-ware,  and  pottery. («)  Our  earthen- 
ware was  furniflied,  we  fee,  by  the  Phenicians :  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  many  of  the 
eaithen  urns  found  in  our  baiTows,  were  fabricated  by  that  people  ;  though,  indeed,  fo 

eafy 

[a)  An  ingenious  conefpondent  fays :  "  It  is  obfer\'able  that  the  articles  in  wliich  the  Britons  dealt 
with  the  Phenicians,  imply  a  fettlement  of  feme  ftanding.  They  were  tin,  which  requires  fome 
ikill  and  labor  to  bring  it  to  a  merchantable  ftatej  gold  and  filver(i;',  pearls,  and  the  curious  dye  from 
the  {2)viurcx,  which  was  here  in  great  abundance,  and  which,  probably,  was  the  boafted  Tyrian 
dye." 

(i)  Mufgrave,  in  liis  Belgae  (p.  160  to  166)  fpeaks  thus  of  the  Brltilli  commerce  :  "  De  Gemmis 
Mi/ee  Bri  artiLis  quid  dicam,  incertus  fum,  nifi  eas  e  Rupe  Briftoiunf.,  quae  nunc  Finccntil  dicitur, 
captas  llatuam.  Frofert  Adamantes  ea  perfpicuos,  pulchros,  ab  Indiis  adveftorum  asmulos,  iifque 
una  duritie  fecundos :  Utvum  MJa  aetate  reperti  fuerint,  non  exploratiflimum  eft;  quare  In  iiis  di- 
cund  s  non  parum  hsefito.  Judicent  eruditi,  prout  cujufque  libido  eft.  Margaritarum  vim^magnam 
fuiffe,  conftat  ex  iis,  quas  hodie  pra:bcnt  Oftrea  Bntdiar.ca.  Nefcio  an  Rutup'wa,  qua  R(,mami  erant 
delicio,  pra?  cseteris  fcaterent  Margaritis.  Ju'ilus  Cafar  [Britanniam  petiijfe  dicitur  jpc  Margaritarum^ 
quarum  ampUtudincm  confcrens,  intcrdum  j'ua  manu  poridus  exigerct.^  Scd  ['^)  [in  Britannia  par-voi  £f 
dicolores  njfci  certum  <:fl.\  Et(4)  JEUanus  ait,  Margarittm  Brltannicam  v.agii  ful-vi  coloris  e^'e,  minuf- 
4ue  fplendidam.  [Di'vui  Julius  Thoracem^  qucm  Veneri  Gcnctriei  in  Tempio  ejus  dicavit,  ex  Britannicis 
M^arraritis/^j^aw  -voluerit  ir.tcUegi:'\  fubjedta,  inquit  {^)SoHnui,  Infcriptione,  quas  id  teftaretur.  Haec 
omnia  more  fuo  exagirat  If.  Vofcius,  &  Gemmas,  &  boni  coloris  Margaritas  veteri  negat  B'itannne. 
'[^a:t2^,  (6;  inquit,  jutit  ilia  Gemma  ?  Flumina  ifla  Gsmmifaa,  &'  Margaritifcra  t'ura  profcBo  futtt 
eopnnenta,  ad  apparandum  fiulti  Imperatoris  tr-.uirphi'.v!,'^  At  pace  tanti  viri,  "non  adeo  yiles  funt  Ada- 
mantes  fupra  di(Si,  quin  ynHi  fasculo  facile  placerent.  Hae  videntur  effe  Gemmas  praedictfie,  &  Sa- 
hrir.a  noftra  Flumen  illud  Gemmiierum,  de  quo  dubitar  %'ir  egregie  doftus.  Marg,:ritas  cum  Tapio- 
tariticis  noftras  nequaquam  audeo  compirare,  prjeclpue  fi  magnitndinis  habeatur  ratio  :  at  ex"  Foro 
vofirc  Fxcrr.:r.f:  Pifcatorio,  &  Margaritis  hie  repertis  fi  liceat  judicare,  facile  potuit  earum  in  hac  Infula 
comparari,  fatis  magnarum  neque  decolprum  numerus,  qui  ad  exornandum  Vcn:rii  Thoracem  omnino 

fufficeret. Calx  etiam  inter  i^_xyMyi(j.x  metito  putanda  eft;  fed  qux  Cretam  &  Margam  com- 

prehendit:  his  enim  tribus  Agricolae  fsecundant  agros.  Teftantur  optima  fidei  Infcriptlones,  Artcm 
Calcariam  olim  ABnrannis  exerceri,  &  ut  Terra  Figularis  hodie  ad  Tuhos  Tabacarios  e  Dunmorio,  fic 
Cretam,  Margam,  &  ejufmodi  alia  ad  fterccrandos  Agros  hinc  exportari.  Ca/caria;  Brigantum  oppi- 
dulo,  [i.  e.  Tjdcajier)  fuiiTe  unanl  Infcriptionem  opinatur  Doftiir.(7)  Galaus,  fedob  literas  fugientes 
&  propemodum  exefas,  vix  legendam.  ."^d  quod  ad  rem  noftram  maximopere  facit,  in  Colle,  cui 
Sorbiidunum  (Old  Sarum)  infidebat,  Fodinae  Cretacae  praecipue  frequentabantur,  Sc  ab  iis  Creta  in 
exteras  regiones  cxportabatur.     UndeVerfificator  Angfu^ 

EJi  ihi  defiffus  Lymfar,  fed  ccpia  Crcta. 
Art!  Calcarise  praefuit  Dea  Nehalennia,  quae  a  Brjgjnribus,  (opinante  ClarKT.  {%)Galieo)  forfan  etiam 
a  Belgis  noftris'colebatur.     Ei  Negotiatores  &  Mercatores  navicularii  vota  folvebant,  ut  ex  Ara,  quae 
{(j)D6mhurgii  in  Zehndia  dudum  effofla  eft,  coniicimus.     Eft  autem  hujufmodi. 
DEAE  NEHAI.ENNIAE 

OB  MERGES  RITE  CONSER 

VATAS  M.  SECUND  SILVANUS 

NEGOTTOR  U  RETARIVS 

BRITANNICIANVS 

V.  S.  L.  M. 
Novam  Lunam  Nehahnnia  fignlficari  velunt  nonnulll,  (\Cx  certe  navigantibus  bcnigna  fult  &■  propi- 

tia,  fic,  ut  ea  de  canfa  cultu  digna  videretur. De  Gagdtc  Hoiini  Britanuico  aliquid  dicendum  :   Ac- 

cipii  ille  nomen  a  Gage  (tradcnte  {10) Di-jfc-jride)  Lyda-  amne,  ad  cujus  Oftium  ifte  Lapis  primum 
inventus  eft.    Aliquando  dicitnr  Lapis  Obfidianus  j  fed  ylngliie  [a  Jcatjlcne.l    Succinum  nigrum  efTe 

contendit 

.    (1)  The  Mttfcle  ye»rl— .Mufcali,  qnibus  inclufain  fepc  margaritam,  omnis  quidfm  coloris  optimam  inveniunt.  Ricard.  p.  1 3. 

(5)  Sunt  et  Co^klcce,  fans  fopcrque  abimdantcs,  qiiihus  tinSura  coccinii  coloris  coiifititur,  cujus  rubor  pulcbcrrimus, 
nullo  unqu'im  foils  ardorc,  nulla  valr-  pluviorirm  injuria  palkfccre ;  fed  quo  vetuftior  c(t,  eo  foict  cffe  vcnullior.  Ricard. 
p.  13.      The  Murex  of  Dcvonfliiie,  is  noticed  in  my  Sketches  of  tbc  Natural  Hiftor). 

(3)  Vide  Plinii,  Lib.  ix.   Cap.  xxxv.  (4)  AoxfT    Of    ITtilS    yQ.VJ-aj'TTOTep®^    lOeTyf    HVXl   TO-i    TE    OLVyOtt 

afJ-^X^ipaCi  i'vuy,    y.Xl  anaruioc^cpxs .      Dc  Animalibns,   Lib.  xv    Cap.  viii.  Ed.  Tiguriiia,  Fol. 

(5)  Vide  Solinura,  Cap.  liii ;  &  in  illud,  Docliff.  Salniafii  Plinianas  excrtitationes, 

(6)  Vide  ejus  Obfcr^'ationes  ad  Melz,-  Lib.  iii.  Cap.  vi.  verf.  36.  (7)   Ad  Anioniaj  Iter,  ii.  pag  ^2.       (8;  pag.  4J, 
(g;  Rciiicdi  Symagroa,  p,  igo.          (10)  Lib.  v.  Cap.  cxWi. 


/  The     BRITISH    PERIOD.  12, 

eafy  a  workmaiifhip  was  foon,  imitated  by  the  Britons,  (i)  We  are  told,  that  the  Phem- 
<ians  conlidered  their  commerce  with  us  of  fuch  conl'equence,  that  they  erefted  forts  and 
cajiles  on  our  coalh,  for  the  protedion  and  preiervation  of  it.  This  was  their  ufual  cuf- 
tom  in  ever}^  country  where  they  traded.  And  it  is  a  certain  fact,  that  they  planted 
colonies  along  the  coalls  of  the  Mediterranean,  for  the  further  lecurity  of  the  trade  which 
they  had  ellablillied  there.  Nothing,  therefore,  is  more  probable,  than  that  they  coloni- 
zed a  pait  of  Danmonium. 

How  long  (rt)  the  Phenici.ans  enjoyed  this  trade  exclufively,  is  not  certainly  known  j 
They,  doubtleis,  took,  every  precaution  to  conceal  the  fource  of  their  mercantile  wealth. 
Though  the  Greeks  in  the  time  of  Herodotus,  knew  perfectly  well,  that  all  the  tin  which 
they  ufed,  and  which  they  received  from  the  Phenicians,  came  originally  from  the  Cafli- 
terides,  or  from  Danmonium  j  yet  they  could  fcarcely  guefs,  it  feems,  at  our  iltuation. 
The  Pheniciaii  merchants  could  eafily  avoid  inftructing  the  Greeks  in  the  courfe  they 
fleered  :  But  the  Greeks  Avere  acquainted  with  the  names  of  the  tin-countries,  in  the  time 
of  Herodotus.  And  from  their  love  of  novelty,  and  the  reftlelfnefs  of  their  temper  (the 
peculiar  characterilfic  of  the  Greeks)  it  is  very  unlikely,  that  they  fhould  indolently  fit  at 
home,  inditferent  about  the  commodities  of  Danmonium  (though  fecondarily  experiencing 
the  bleflings  of  thofe  commodities)  when  once  they  were  inftrufted  in  the  art  of  naviga- 
tion. That  Pytheas,  the  Greek  Philofopher  of  Marfeilles,  gave  an  account  of  the  Britifti 
illes  from  his  own  infpeftion  of  them,  three  hundred  and  thirty  years  before  Chrift,  is 
unquellionable.  This  geographer  was  an  adventurous  mariner,  and  "  is  faid  to  have 
lailed  as  far  as  the  Arctic  circle,  where  there  is  no  night  at  the  fummer  folftice."  In  this 
voyage,  we  are  told,  he  found  out  Iceland.  This  Ipirit  of  adventure,  fo  confpicuous  in 
Pytheas,  would  be  equally  diicoverable,  I  conceive,  in  his  countrymen.  And,  when  we 
confider  the  connexion  of  the  Greeks  with  the  Phenicians,  we  (liould  not  err,  I  think,  in 
bringing  the  Greeks  to  this  ifland  half  a  century  at  lealt  before  Pytheas.  In  this  cafe, 
the  Greeks  entered  Britain  about  380  years  before  Chrilt.  The  hiftory  of  Herodotus 
containing  an  obfcure  hint  about  the  Caifiterides,  would,  immediately  on  its  publication, 
have  excited  the  curiofity  of  fo  inquihtive  a  people,  {b)  As  to  the  paifage  in  Richard, 
w'.iere  the  Greek  merchants  are  laid  to  be  introduced  as  coeval  witli  the  primitive  Pheni- 
cians, I  do  not  lee,  that  it  is  capable  of  fuch  a  conftruCtion.  The  pallage  (which  was 
quoted  before  with  another  view)  is  as  follows  :  "  A.  \I.  m.  m.  m.  Circa  hare  tefnpora 
^v.liam  et  habitatatn  primion  Brittanttiafn  arbitrantur  nommlli,  cum  illam  falutarent  Grseci 
Phsnicefque  mercatores."(0  The  nif-aning  of  which  feems  to  be  this:  "  About  the 
year  of  the  world  three  thoufand,  the  Greek  and  Phenician  commerce  was  firft  eftabliflied 

in 

contendlt  AUrmandu!,  cul  fnfFragatur  DoflllT:  (i)  Anfelmus  B.  de  Boct.  Paleas  enim  attritu  cale- 
fa'flus,  Succini  inftar,  trahit,  &  odorem  habet  Sulfureum.  De  eo  {z)Scr!i:us  [Gagates  bk  (in  Bri- 
tanriaj  plurimus  op.'imuffue  eji  Lapis  ;  ft  decorem  requiras,  nigra  gcKmcus  ;  fi  naturam,  aqua  ardtt ;  oho 
reftinguitur;]  Eft  in  Mufeo(3)  Regime  Societatis  hujufmodi  Lapis  infignis,  &  in  C/ea-vciand,  on  the  top 
cf  Huntly  and  JVhithy  Clifts,  S  puttis  efFodi  folet  in  Agro(4)  Suncicrji  qui  cum  Regnorum  dim  patria 
f'jit  Belgio  prcxime  vicina,  fortafle  an  a  Beigis  hinc  exportaretur.  Multiplex  eft  Gagatis  nfus.  In 
Medicina  calida;  facultatis  cfTe  dicitur,  &  Mania,  Moibo  comitiali,  ficut  etiam  Hyfterico  correptos 
Sufficu  liberate.  D.ureticus  eft,  &  Hydropicis,  urinam  movendo,  prodeft.  Oleum  ejus  deftillatum 
maxime  praedicaturad  Daemoniacos,  (id  eft,  Epiiepticos)  Paralyfin,  Convulfionem,  Tetanum,  ad  Po- 
da§ram  frigidam,  omnefque  frigidas  Fluxiones,  parti  affeftae  illitum  :  Unde  Podagncis  remediis  & 
Acopis  adnumeratur.  Pulvis  ejus  ad  unius  Drachmae  pondo,  ex  Vino  hauftiis  ad  tempus  aliquod, 
Colcam  integre  fanare  dicitur.  Eniollit,  difcutit,  (5)  £>«  bWaV  tefte  ;  unde  adverfus  fedis  affefli- 
ones,  quam  leviflime  tritus,  (6)y£/;i  judicio  valet ;  &  ad  Condylomata,  eum  Scrihonii  Largi  Eniplaf- 
trum  habet.  Omabantur  eo  Galeae,  Scuta,  Gladii :  Mundum  etiam  muliebrem  ingrediebatur ;  Fce- 
minarum  Aures,  Colla,  Pedloraque,  colore  contrario,  commendabant.  Hinc  Auiium  iobis  etiam 
nunc  appenditur  ex  eo  Inauris  j  CoUo  Monile:  in  qjibus  Puellae  non  parum  gloriantur.  Denique  ad 
preces  numerandas,  in  globules  formatus,  &  filo  trajedus,  nonnullis  eft  in  ufu." 

[a)  After  the  firft  ages  of  the  Phenician  commerce,  the  Tyrian  colonies  of  Carthage  and  of  Cadiz, 
carried  on  the  Danmonian  tin-trade,  conjundlively. 

{b)  Pcdybius,  the  Greek,  wrote  liis  large  treatife  on  the  tin-manufa<flure  of  Danmonium,  about 
two  hundred  years  before  the  chriftian  aera.  And  Polybius  was  a  very  accurate  liiftorian.  And  he, 
probably,  received  his  intelligence  from  the  Grecian  colony  fettled  long  before  in  Danmonium. 

(f)  Ricard.  p.  50. 

(1)   Dfi  Lapidibus  &  Gemmis  in  Specie.   Lib.  2.  Cap.  clxiii.  &  Tcqq.  (2)  V.  Solinum,  Cap.  xxii.  &  in  Ulud  Dofl.  Sal- 

■afii  Plinianas  Exercitaiiones.  (3)  V.  Mufeu.-n  Reg.  Societ.  edente  Neh  Gtew,  Partem,  jii.  Cap.  ii. 

(4)  Vide  .\ddiumc.nti  dd  Camileni  Comitacuin  SuM/.  3     Loco  j;iui  lit  ito.  ''■     Lib.  2.  teu>ibibli.  Cap.  24. 


tt6  ItlSTORICAL   VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

in  Britain."     Richard  does  not  mean  to  fay,  that  the  Greeks  aftually  traded  to  this  iftarrd 
about  the  year  three  thoufand  :    Had  he  intended  fpeciiically  to  defcribe  the  merchants, 
and  the  exaft  time  when  they  refpeftively  traded  witli  the  Britifh  illandevs,  he  would, 
doubtlefs,  have  placed  Phanices  before  Craeci ;    for  he  mull  furely  have  known,  that  in 
point  of  time,  the  Phenicians  were  prior  to  the  Greeks.     This  is  plain,  from  his  obferv- 
ing  in  another  place,  where  he  wifhes  to  dilcriminate  between  the  different  merchants  who 
traded  here,  that  that  country  (Danmonium)  '•'  utpote  metaliis  abundantem,  Phosnicibus 
Gracis  et  GalUs  mercatoribus  probe  notam  fuifre."(fl)     Here  the  Phenician,  Greek,  and 
Gaulifli  merchants  come  fuccelFively,  in  the  proper  order  of  time  :  And  to  have  inverted 
this  order,  would  have  been  a  glaring  impropriety.     Yet  in  the  very  next  period,  where 
Richard  is  p  ;inting  out  to  us  the  etymologies  of  places,  we  fee  the  Greeks  again  put  over 
the  head  of  the  Phenicians — {b)  Gracatn  Pharniciamque  originem.     Nothing,  therefore, 
can  be  clearer  than  that,  in  the  paflage  firft  quoted,  our  author  fpeaks  in  general  terms, 
and  that  he  limply  intends  to  mark  the  fii-ft  eftabliihment  of  the  ancient  Britifh  trade  in 
this  illand  :  And  whether  this  trade  were  entitled,  the  Greek  and  Phenicia?!,  or  the  Greek 
only,  would  be  little  to  the  purpofe.     Who  the  firll  Greeks  that  came  into  this  ifland, 
were,  is  uncertain.     But,  in  procefs  of  time,  the  Greeks  of  Marfeilles  obtained  a  con- 
fiderable  (hare  of  the  Britifh  trade  :  And  tin,  lead,  and  Ikins,  are  faid  to  have  been  the 
commodities  which  the  Greeks  exported  from  Britain.    And  their  imports  were,  poflibly, 
the  fame  as  the  Phenician.     In  the  mean  time,  t±ie  Greeks  of  Marleilles  endeavoured, 
like  the  Phenicians,  to  conceal  their  commerce  with  the  Britifh  illes  from  other  nations. 
Strabo  tells  us,  from  Polybius,  that  the  Greeks  pretended  a  total  ignorance  of  the  Britilh 
ifles,  when  queftioned  by  the  famous  Scipio,  refpefting  their  fituation  or  produftions. 
With  refpeft  to  the  Roman  trade  with  Danmonium,  before  the  time  of  Casfar,  there  is  very 
great  uncertainty.   Yet  we  are  told,  that  the  Romans,  after  they  became  acquainted  with 
navigation  (which  was  not  till  after  the  firft  Punic  v.-ar,  about  two  hundred  and  fixty  years 
before  Chrift)  fent  out  a  veffel  in  purfuit  of  the  Phenicians,  in  order  to  difcover  the  place 
where  they  traded  for  tin.     But  the  Phenician  mariner,  fufpefting  the  defign  of  the  Ro- 
mans, voluntarily  ran  his  fhip  among  fliallows,  to  decoy  his  purfuers  into  the  fame  peri- 
lous fituation,  from  which  their  imperfeft  ikill  in  navigation  would  not  enable  them  to 
emerge ;  whilft  he  knew  how  to  dilengage  himfelf  and  his  fliip,  with  fome  prefent  lofs 
indeed,  but  little  or  no  danger.     That  he  did  not  fink  his  fhip,  or  go  down  to  the  bot- 
tom with  his  crew  and  all,  as  fome  writers  have  imagined,  is  fufficiently  clear  from  Strabo; 
who  tells  us,  that,  preferving  himfelf  from  fliipwreck,  he  was  afterwards  paid,  out  of  the 
public  treafury,  an  equivalent  for  the  lofs  of  his  cargo.     Notwithftanding  every  precau- 
tion of  the  Phenicians,  the  Romans,  as  Strabo  alTures  us,  at  length  diicovered  the  fituation 
of  the  tin-countries.     In  confeq vence  of  this,  Publius  CralTus  came  hither  with  the  dil- 
coverers,  and  made  obfervations  on  the  tin-mines,  then  of  no  great  depth,  and  the  dif- 
pohtion  of  the  people  to  peace,  and  their  readinefs  to  give  direftions  to  voyagers.     Who 
Publius   Crafliis  was,  or  when  he  made  this  expedition  in  quefl  of  our  tin,  we  are  not 
informed :  But  his  voyage  was  certainly  pofterior  to  the  firft  Punic  war,  when  the  Romans 
were  little  acquainted  with  the  leas. 

I  have  already  remarked,  that  it  is  ver}'  uncertain  from  what  places  the  primitive 
Phenicians  exported  our  commodities :  And  there  is  the  fame  dubioufneis  in  regard  to 
the  ports  in  Danmonium,  which  were  frequented  by  the  fublequent  merchants. 

The  channel  through  which  t!ie  trade  of  Britain  was  at  one  time  carried  on,  is  ob- 
fcurely  marked  by  Diodorus  Siculus.  The  paflage  to  which  I  allude,  hath  exercifed  much 
conjecture  -.  It  is  as  follows,  together  with  the  context.  Nt'v  ^e  irepi  t«  aafl  'aJi>jv  (pvo/xevs 
xxc-^^lcpa  on^i/jisv.  T-ns  7«p  ^(.{{racvty.r.s  kxtx  to  ocKpujrvipioy  to  )taA«//.£»oy  Bt>tptov  oi  Kaloi' 
x«>1'«f  (piXolevoi  re  oix^epo)irus  tivi,  x.xi  ^ix  t»v  ruv  Ievo/v  sfx-nopx-D  t'tri(j.ihxM  c^-niz-epw/xevoi  txs 
«ya.'y«y.  «to(  tov  xxaa-fitpov  vM\xcry.iix^na-i ,  (^ihonyjMS  tpyx^ofA-evoi  ri)>  (^tp<iax)i  xvrov  ynv. 
Avrr)  Oi  TTtrpi'^^j  uax,  oix(pvxs  ly^t  ysw^E/f,  fv  ais  tov  "TTo/jok  xatTe/jyas^o/xEvoi  y.xi  r-n^xyrtt 
xxOxipnaiv.  ATroTVjTHvki  S'  us  x<Tpxyx/^xv  pvO/AHs,  xoiAi^aa-iy  cis  rr^vx  yncrov  •jiponiifj.ivy))/  /xn 
rvis  ^piirxyinr,! ,  ov5//.a^o//.£v/;v  ^t  IxTl/v.  Kdsra  yxp  rxs  ai/.trunis,  a)ix^vipxi)ioi/.tyii  ru  fxita^ 
TO'TTn,  rxii  Xjxx^xis  BIS  Txvrnv  y.^iAi^HTi  ^x-]^i}.T,  tov  y.XTcr.epoy .  lotov  ot  ri  av/A'oxivBt  vcfi 
rxs  'nX'na-tov  v/ktus,  rxs  y.srx^v  xhiasvxs  tds  re  Evpu%riS  y.xi  rrs  ^filrxyixm.  Kxrx  //.ev  Txi 
nr'Kriij.i/.vpt^xs  TK  [/.tix^v  itofu  TrXy/pa/xEvB  rna-ot  (^xitoilxi.   Kx\x  Se  rxs  aiAiTintii!  KTioppma-ris  rnr 

9xKxa-a~r,Sf 

{a)  Ricaid.  p.  20.         (i)  p.  21. 


The     BRITISH    PERIOD.  127 

6a>M<T<Tr,i,  y.xi  woXuv  Towoy  xyx^vpxr,ti<r/is ,  Gixfuvlxi  ysffoincrot .  tmv^ot  S'o/  tfJ.Vocoi  Trxpat 
Tioy  ty^xfix-v  uvti't^lxi,  xxt  ^ixy.oij.i^na-ii  £(i"  Tvjy  Tx}^xlixv.  To  Js  TiXsvixtov  Titl-n  ^la  rris 
TxXxlixs  vofevOivits  ri^ifxs  ui  Tpixy.'jv\x,  y.xrx'/HTit  iTTi  rujv  iifTTui  rx  (popiix  Tteos  Trv  £XteoA)j» 
TB  Po^ava  '7rolxiJ.ii.{a)  In  this  paffage,  our  hiftorian  is  generally  conceived  to  inform  us, 
among  other  particulars,  that  "  the  people  who  inhabited  the  extreme  parts  of  Corn^ivally 
after  they  have  prepared  their  tin  for  exportation,  carry  it  in  waggons  to  the  Ijle  of  Wight.''' 
According  to  the  interpretation  of  others,  ly.as  is  fuppol'ed  to  mean,  one  of  the  Ijhs  of 
Scil/y,  or  the  Black-rock  of  Fahnouth.  Among  thofe,  who  entertain  the  co7iimcn  idea,  are  Dr. 
Heniy  and  Mr.  Whitaker :  The  advocates  for  a  nenjj  conftrudlion,  are  Borlafe,  and  Pryce. 
Before  I  venture  to  give  my  own  opinion  on  this  pafiage,  I  fhail  prei'ent  my  readers  with 
the  fentimencs  of  thefe  diilerent  writers.  F'rft,  then,  for  the  common  idea.  Dr.  Henry 
■writes  thus  :  "  Whether  the  Greeks  of  Marfeilles  were  difcouraged  from  continuing  to 
trade  direftly  with  Britain,  by  the  length  and  danger  of  the  voyage,  or  by  the  wars  be- 
tween the  Romans  and  Carthaginians,  w^hich  rendered  the  navigation  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean very  uniafe,  we  cannot  be  certain.  But  this  we  know  from  the  bell  information, 
that  the  trade  between  Britain  and  Marfeilles,  after  fome  time,  began  to  be  carried  on  in 
a  dilferent  manner,  and  through  a  different  channel.  Of  this  we  have  the  foUowino-  plain, 
account  from  Diodorus  Siculus :  '  Thefe  Britons  who  dwell  near  the  promontory  of 
Belerium  (the  Lands-end)  live  in  a  very  hofpitable  and  polite  manner,  which  is  owing 
to  their  great  intercourfe  with  foreign  merchants.  They  prepare,  with  much  dexterity, 
the  tin  which  their  country'  produceth.  For  though  this  metal  is  very  precious,  yet 
when  it  is  tirft  dug  out  of  the  mine  it  is  mixed  with  earth,  from  which  they  leparate  it, 
by  melting  and  reiining.  When  it  is  refined,  they  calf  it  into  ingots,  in  the  fhape  of 
cubes  or  dies,  and  then  carry  it  into  an  adjacent  illand,  which  is  calleft  Iftis  (Wio-ht). 
For  when  it  is  low-water,  the  fpace  between  that  illand  and  the  continent  of  Britain  be- 
comes dry  land  ;  and  they  carry  great  quantities  of  tin  into  it  in  their  carts  and  waggons. 
Here  the  merchants  buy  it,  and  tranfport  it  to  the  coalt  of  Gaul ;  from  whence  they  con- 
vey it  over  land,  on  horfes,  in  about  thirty  days,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rhone.'  As  Mar- 
feilles is  fituated  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Rhone,  we  maj'  be  certain  that  it  was  the 
place  to  which  the  Britifh  tin  was  carried  ,  and  that  from  thence  the  merchants  of  Mar- 
feilles fent  it  into  all  parts  of  the  world  to  which  they  traded.  It  is  not  fo  clear,  from 
the  above  account  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  who  were  the  foreign  merchants  who  purchafed 
the  tin  from  the  Britons  in  the  Ille  of  Wight,  tranfported  it  to  the  coail  of  Gaul,  and. 
from  thence  over  land  to  Marfeilles.  Some  imagine  that  they  were  Greeks  from  Mar- 
leilles,  who  had  faftories  eitablillied  in  the  Ille  of  Wight,  and  on  the  coall  of  Gaul,  for 
the  management  of  this  trade ;  while  others  think  that  they  were  Gauls,  and  that  the 
people  of  Marfeilles  remained  quietly  at  home,  and  received  the  Britilh  tin,  and  other 
commodities,  from  the  hands  of  thele  Gaulifh  merchants.  There  feems  to  be  fome  truth 
in  both  thele  opinions ;  and  it  is  moft  probable  that  the  merchants  of  Marfeilles,  finding 
the  dirticulties  and  dangers  of  trading  directly  to  Britain  by  fea,  contri/ed  the  fcheme  of 
caiTying  on  that  trade  iJver  the  continent  of  Gaul;  and  fent  agents  of  their  own  to  begin 
the  execution  of  this  fcheme.  But  they  could  not  but  loon  dil'cover  thrt  it  was  impolTible 
to  carry  on  a  trade  through  fo  great  an  extent  of  country,  without  the  conlent  and  affift- 
ance  of  the  inhabitants  ;  and  that  it  was  necellary  to  employ  them,  firft  as  their  earners, 
^nd  afterwai-ds  as  their  agents.  By  this  means,  Ibme  of  the  Gauls  becoming  acquainted 
w  ith  the  nature  and  profits  of  this  trade,  engaged  in  it  on  their  own  account.  For  't  is  cer- 
tain that  the  Gauls  were  inllrufted  in  trade  as  well  as  in  arts  and  learning,  by  the  Greeks 
of  Marfeilles.     It  is  evident  that  the  Ille  of  Wight  was  the  place  from  whence  thefe 

foreign 

(a)  Nunc  de  ftanno.,  quod  illk  effod'ttur,  d'uendl  locus  ejl.  S^ui  Belerium  Britanr.'ne  prcmcntoriutK 
aecoluntf  bofpitales  funt  apprime,  et  propter  mercatorum  lUic  commercia  manfuetiore  -vita  cultu.  Hi  ftan- 
rtum,  terra,  qua  illud  parturit,  foleiti  opere  fuhalia,  conficiur.t.  S^ua:  cum  petrkofa  ft,  -venas  quajdam 
bahet  terrejires,  e  quibus  erutum  metalli  pro'vcntum  llquefaciunt  et  expurgatit.  Talorum  delude  modo  con- 
Jormatum  in  quandam  Britanniae  adjedlam  Infulam,  cu'i  v^men  Ictis,  deportant.  Dum  en'im  per  re- 
'  fuxui  inter-vallum  locus  in  medio  deficcatur,  plaujlr'is  interim  largam  jianni  -vim  tranj-veBant.  Infidis  hifce 
vicinis,  qua  Europam  atque  Britanniam  interjacent,  peculiare  quippiam  accidit.  TraElus  enim  Hie,  Juh 
inundati^'nem  aflui,  ajuis  oppktus,  Infulus  ejfe  ojlendit.  deceden:e  per  reciprocationem  mari,  ir.gem  hci  fpa- 
cium,  ajuis  defe&um,  peninj'ularum  fpeciem  reddit.  Inde  Jiannum  ab  incJis  emtum  in  Galliam  mercatorei 
tramferunt.  Et  xxx  dicrum  itlnere  per  Galliam  pedeftri  farcinas  equis  impofitaSf  ad  Rbodani  tandem  ojlia 
deportant.     Died.  Skul,  fVcJfc'ing.  tom  i.  p.  346,  347. 


128.  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

foreign  merchants,  whether  Greeks  or  Gauls,  exported  the  Britifli  tin ;  but  we  are  not 
told  at  what  port  of  Gaul  it  was  landed. («)  A  modern  writer,  of  great  learning,  hath  en- 
c-ac^ed  in  a  long  and  particular  difcuilion  of  this  point  j  and  after  examining  feveral  dirte- 
rentopinions,  he  concludes  at  laft,  that  Vemies,  in  Britanny,  was  the  port  at  which  the 
goods  exported  fi-om  Britain  were  dilembarked.  It  is,  however,  probable  that  the  mer- 
chants ot  Gaul  landed  their  goods  from  Britain  at  differeiit  ports,  as  it  fuited  beft  their 
own  fituation  and  conveniency."(^)  ^^-  Henry  is  fufficiently  accurate  in  his  traiiflation' 
of  this  paifage  from  Diodorus.  It  is,  therefore,  very  extraordinary,  that  whilft  he 
introduces  the  Britons  of  the  La7i.Vs-end  carryuig  their  tin  into  an  aJjace7tt  tjland 
(y»!T07  'TTfoxiiixB-.r/j)  he  Ihould  at  the  fame  inftant  determine  tliis  illand  to  be  the  IJIe  of 
/Tight  h'ing  off  the  coall  of  Haynpjlnre  !  According  to  this  writer,  the  Cornirti  could  pafs 
with  their  wa2:gons,  from  the  Land"s-end  to  the  Ifie  of  Wight,  whenever  they  thought 
proper.  It  was  but  a  Hep  :  And  they  could  go  over  dryfliod  with  all  imaginable  eale  ? 
Bv  fome  ftrange  magic,  indeed,  the  Ille  of  Wight,  in  Hamplhire,  ufed,  in  the'diys  of 
Diodorus,  to  be  direftly  oppofite  and  almoft  adjoining  to  the  Land's-end  in  Cornwall. 
Thus,  alio,  Mr.  Whitaker  :  "  The  Greeks  of  Marfeilles  firll  followed  the  courfe  of  the 
Phenician  voyagers  ;  and  fome  time  before  the  days  of  Polybius,  and  about  two  himdred 
years  before  the  age  of  Chrift,  began  to  Ihare  with  them  in  the  trade  of  tin.  The  Car- 
tha«-inian  commerce  declmed.  The  Mailylian  increafed.  And,  in  the  reign  of  Auguftus, 
the  whole  current  of  the  Britifli  traffick  had  been  gradually  diverted  into  this  channel. 
At  that  period  the  trade  of  the  illand  was  very  conliderable.  Two  roads  were  laid  acrofs 
it,  and  reached  from  Sandwich  to  Caernarvon  on  one  fide  and  from  Dorfetihue  into  Suf- 
foLk  on  the  other ;  and  the  commerce  of  the  fhores  was  carried  along  them  into  the  inte- 
riour  parts  of  the  country.  The  great  ftaple  of  the  tin  was  iw  longer  fettled  in  a  diftant 
corner  of  the  illand.  It  was  removed  from  Scilly,  and  fixed  in  the  Ille  of  Wight,  a 
central  part  of  the  coaft,  lying  equally  betwixt  the  two  roads,  and  better  adapted  to  the 
new  arrano-emeuts  of  the  trade.  Thither  the  tin  was  brought  by  the  Belgas,  and  thither 
the  forei£;n  merchants  relbrted  with  their  wares.  And  the  trade  was  no  longer  carried  on 
by  veifefs  that  coafted  tedioufly  along  the  fliores  of  Spain  and  Gaul.  The  tin  was  now 
tranfported  over  the  neighbouring  channel,  unlhipped  on  the  oppofite  coaft,  and  lent  upon 
horfes  acrofs  the  land  or  by  boats  along  the  rivers  to  Marfeilles  and  Narbonne.  And 
the  Veneti  of  Gaul  were  the  merchants,  that  reforted  to  the  Ifle  of  Wight  with  their  vef- 
fels,  that  bartered  with  the  Britons  for  their  metal,  and  tranfmitted  it  acrofs  the  continent 
afterwards.  This  ifle,  which  is  now  feparated  from  the  remainder  of  Hamplhire  by  a 
channel  little  more  than  half  a  mile  in  breadth  about  the  p>oi>it  of  Hurft-caftle,  was  then  a 
part  of  the  greater  illand,  disjoined  from  it  only  by  the  tide,  and  united  to  it  at  the  ebb." 
And,  during  the  recefs  of  the  waters,  the  Britons  conftantly  pafied  over  the  lov.-  ifthmus 
of  land  with  their  cart-loads  of  tin.  This  -zuas  alj'o  the  cafe  ivith  7/iauj  other  places  oti  the 
(butherly  Jhore  of  Britain,  which  appeared  as  iilands  only  on  the  tide  of  flood,  and  became 
peninlulas  at  the  ebb."  (r)  Here  all  is  beautifully  confillent  with  the  general  narrative 
and  with  itlelf.  But,  as  Mr.  Whitaker  informs  us,  that  "  jnaiiy  other  places  on  the  fouth- 
erly  jhore  of  Britain,  appeared  as  ifands  only  on  the  tide  cf  flood,  and  heca7ne  peninfulas  at 
the  ebb  •"  I  tliink  we  may  be  warranted  in  fixing  on  fome  other  fpot  on  the  fouth-coaft 
of  Danmonium,  lefs  liable  to  objeftions  than  the  Ifle  of  Wight.  It  was  with  this  notion, 
that  Borlale  and  Pryce  have  attempted  a  nenxi  confriulion  of  the  famous  paflage  before 
us.  Borlale,  in  his  Natural  Hiftory  of  Cornw\all,  lays:  "  The  fliort  defcription  which 
we  have  of  the  tin-trade  in  Diodoinis  Siculus,  muft  not  be  omitted,  though  it  is  too 
general  for  us  to  learn  many  particulais  from  it.  '  Thefe  men  (fays  he,  meaning  the 
tinners)  manufafture  their  tin  by  working  the  grounds  which  produce  it  with  great  art. 
For  thou<^h  the  land  is  rock.y,  it  has  Ibft  veins  of  earth  lainning  through  it  in  which  the 
tinners  find  the  trealUre,  extraft,  melt,  and  purify  it ;  then  fiiaping  it  (by  moulds)  into 
a  kind  of  cubical  figui-e,  they  carry  it  off  to  a  certain  ifiand  l)-mg  near  the  Britifli  Ihore, 
which  they  call  Iftis ;  for  at  the  recefs  of  the  tide,  the  fpace  betwixt  the  illand  and  the 
nuin  land  being  dry,  the  tinners  embrace  the  opportunity,  and  carry  their  tin  in  carts, 
as  faft  as  may  b'e,  over  to  the  litis  (or  port)  ;  for  it  mu'ft  be  oblerved,  that  the  iilands 
which  lie  betwixt  tiie  continent  and  Britain,  have  this  fingularity,  that  when  tide  is  full, 
they  are  real  iilands :  but  wlieii  the  ita  retires,  they  are  but  fo  many  pcninfuU,  From 
^  this 

(tf)  See  Mem'j'irti  de  P  Academic  dis  hfrlption:,  torn.  16,  p.  i6S. 

:A^  Vol.  1.  p,  381,  5S2.  CO  Manchefter,  vol.  2.  p.  170  to  172. 


The    BillTiSH    PERIOD.  129 

this  ifiand  the  merchants  buy  the  tin  of  the  natives,  and  export  it  into  GaiJ ;  and,  finally^ 
through  Gaul,  by  a  journey  oi  iibout  thiity  day?,  they  bring  it  down  on  horfes  to  tl>s 
mouth  of  the  Erydanus,  meaning  the  Rhone(a).'  In  this  delcription  it  will  naturally 
occur  to  the  inquihtive  reader  to  alk,  where  this  I(Slis  was,  to  which  the  Cornidi  earned 
their  melted  tin  in  carts,  and  there  Ibid  it  to  the  merchants.  I  really  cannot  inform  him  }. 
but  by  the  I6tis  here,  it  is  plain  that  the  Hiitorian  could  not  mean  the  Iftis  or  Vedis  of 
the  ancients  (at  prefent  called  tlie  Ifle  of  \Vi^ht),  for  he  is  fpeaking  of  the  Britons  o( 
Cornwall,  and,  by  the  words,  it  fliould  feem,  thofe  of  the  molt  wellern  parts.  Tr,s  y^te 
B^ilxvrKris  y.oi\x  70  ixyiPMiri^iay  to  jta^S/M-syov  BsXsfiov  oi  xMloiy.nylif,  (sfc.  Ovloi  ts»  'Kxytj-ileeoi 
Kx\ofjy.fvot.(^>i<ji  (^i'Mk-j(ji»i ,  that  is,  "  thofe  who  live  at  the  extreme  end  of  Britain, 
called  Belerium  (/>),  find,  drefs,  melt,  carry,  and  fell  their  tin."  Now  it  would  bet 
abfurd  to  think  that  theie  inhabitants  ihould  carry  in  carts  their  tin  near  two  hundred 
miles  (for  fo  far  diilant  is  the  Ifle  of  Wight  from  them)  when  tliey  had  at  leail  as  good 
ports  and  harbours  on  their  o\sx\  fliores  as  they  could  meet  with  there  :  Befides,  thefe  in- 
habitants are  faid,  in  the  fame  paragraph,  to  have  been  more  than  ordinarily  civilized 
by  converfmg  with  ftrangers  and  merchants.  Thole  merchants  then  muft  have  been  ver>' 
converfant  in  Cornwall,  there  trafficked  for  tin,  that  is,  there  bought,  and  thence  ex- 
ported the  tin,  or  they  could  have  no  bufmefs  there  ;  their  refidence  would  have  been  in 
fonie  of  the  ports  of  Hamplhire  j  and  Cornwall  could  fcarce  have  felt  the  influence  of  their 
manners,  much  lefs  have  been  improved  and  civilized  by  them  at  that  diftance.  Again  s 
the  CornKh,  after  the  tin  was  melted,  carried  it  at  low- water  over  to  the  I6lis  in  carts. 
This  will  by  no  means  fuit  the  fituation  of  the  lile  ot  Wight,  which  is  at  leaft  two  miles 
diftant  from  the  main  land,  r.nd  never  (as  far  as  we  can  learn)  has  been  alternately  an 
jfland  and  a  pemnfula,  as  the  tide  is  in  and  out.  The  Iftis  therefore  here  mentioned, 
mull  lie  fomc where  near  the  coaft  of  Cornwall,  and  muft  either  have  been  a  general  name 
for  any  feninjula  on  a  creek,  (Ik  being  a  common  Cornilh  word,  denotmg  a  Cove,  Creek, 
or  Port  of  traffick,)  or  the  name  of  Ibme  particular  peuinfulo.  and  common  evtpor'tum  on 
the  fame  coall,  which  has  now  loft  Its  iftmus,  name,  and  perhaps  wholly  difappeared,  by 
means  of  Ibme  great  alterations  on  the  fea-fiiore  of  this  county,  (c)  In  his  ancient  and 
prefent  ftate  of  the  Ifles  of  Scilly,  Borlafe  ventures  to  give  his  opinion  upon  the  point  s 
"  Diodorus  Siculus  (fays  he)  talking  of  the  Promontoiy  Belerium,  alias  Balerium,  the 
tin-commerce,  and  courtei>Js  behaviour  of  the  inhabitants,  fays,  that  they  carried 
this  tin  to  an  adjoining  Britijh  Ifle  called  Ictis,  to  which  at  low  tide  they  could  have 
accefs.  Now  there  was  no  fuch  ifland  as  Ictis  on  the  weftern  coafts  of  Coraxuall  in  the 
time  of  Diod.  Siculus,  neither  is  there  at  prefent  any  one  with  the  properties  he  mentions, 
unlefs  it  be  St.  MichaeTf  Mount;  and  the  ieparation  hetu'een  that  and  the  Continent  muft 
have  beeji  made  long  fince  that  time.  By  the  lirft,  therefore.  Died.  Siculus  can  mean 
nothing  but  the  LauJs-ejid,  by  the  geographers  called  Belerium ;  but  (confounding  the 
tin-trade  of  thofe  weftern  parts  of  Lorn--ujcill  with  that  carried  on  in  Scilly)  by  the  fe- 
cond,  he  means  one  of  the  Scilly  Ifles,  to  which  they  conveyed  their  tin  befojje  export- 
ation fi-cra  the  other  fmaller  iflands  ;  for  thus  he  goes  on,  '  There  is  one  thing  peculiar 
t3  thefe  Iflands  (meaning,  that  there  was  no  fuch  thing  in  the  Mediterranean,  where  the 
lea  ftands  nearly  of  one  height)  which  lie  between  Britain  and  Europe,  for  at  full  fea 
they  appear  to  be  Iflands,  but  at  low  vvater,  for  a  long  way,  they  look  like  fo  many 
Peninfula  s;  a  defcription  exactly  anfwering  the  appearance  of  the  Scilly  iflands,  which 
were  at  that  time  iucceflively  Iflands  and  feninfulaj's,  and  lie  between  Europe  and  Britain, 
as  the  old  authors  all  agree,  but,  through  the  inaccuracy  in  geography,  were  not  able  to 
point  out  the  fituation  of  t'aefe  iflands  more  diftinftly.  This  Ictis  of  Diod.  Siculus  is 
probably  the  fame  Ifland  which  Plinj,  from  Timaus,  calls  "  MiCTis,  about  fix  days  fail 
from  Britain,  (iLid  to  be  fertile  in  tin  ;"  where  I  muft  obferve,  that  the  dillance  here  laid 
uowu  is  no  objection  to  Mictis's  being  one  of  the  Scilly  Ifles,  for  when  the  ancients 
reckoned  this  place  iix  days  fail,  they  did  not  mean  from  the  neareft  part  of  Britain,  but 
trom  the  place  moft  known,  and  frequented  by  them  (i.  e.  by  the  Ramans  and  Gauls  J 
which  was  that  part  of  Britain  neareft  to,  and  in  light  of  Gaul,  from  which  to  the  Scilly 
llUnds  the  diftance  was  indeed  fix  days  ufual  fail  in  the  early  times  of  navigation ;  there- 
fore 

(a)  Rhodanus,  fayj  the  l^atin  tranfl^tlon ;  to  r,larfelljes,  fays  Poflidonius,  in  Sjrabo,  lib.  iij,  fzg9 
147,  edit.  Par.  162^,.  [h]  Now  called  the  Lan«l's-End.  (c)  p.  176,  177. 

vov.  1.  R 


130  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

fore  I  am  apt  to  think,  that  by  Mictis  here,  Plhty  meant  the  largeft  of  the  Sch.lv 
Hks(a),  as  I  do  not  at  all  doubt  but  DioJonis  Siculus  alfo  did,  in  the  pafTage  mentioned 
above. "(^)  ^r.  Pryce  has  gratified  us  with  a  conjeQiure  on  this  topic,  which  is,  at  leaft, 
plaufibk.  "  It  has  been  hitherto  (lays  the  Doftor)  an  objeft  of  enquiiy,  from  whence 
our  Tin  was  fliipped  in  the  time  of  the  Phenicians  -.  fome  lay  from  the  Cafliiterides  or 
SciHy  lilands ;  Bolerium,  or  the  Land's-end -,  others  lay,  from  St.  Michael's  Mount; 
and  others,  from  Oftium  Kenionis  Valubia,  or  Falmouth.  The  ignorance  of  true  geo- 
graphy and  navigation  in  the  times  of  Timaeus,  Strabo,  Diodorus  Siculus,  Polybius,  and 
all  the  ancient  hiftorians  and  geographers,  was  fo  great,  and  their  delcriptions  i'o  obfcure 
and  contradiSory,  that  it  may  ever  remain  a  matter  of  conje6lure  and  controverfy,  whence 
our  Tin  vras  exportetl  for  Phenicia  or  Rome,  by  the  records  they  have  left  behind  them. 
It  feems  probable,  that  they  included  the  promontory. of  Bolerium  among  tlie  CafTiterides, 
and  denominated  all  the  fouth-weftem  coaft  of  Cornwall  as  part  of  them  ;  which  being 
the  Jirft  land  difcovered  by  the  na\'igators  of  thofe  days,  gave  one  general  appellation  to 
the  whole.  Without  partiality  to  any  particular  opinion,  we  muft  own  the  harboiir  of 
Falmouth  feems  to  xis  the  moil  commodious,  both  for  natives  and  foreigners,  to  have 
carried  on  the  bufinefs  for  exportation  of  this  grand  monopoly,  which  fupplied  all  the 
MediteiTanean  markets-,  and  we  are  not  fmgular  in  this  thought,  but  are  very  plaufibiy 
Supported  by  a  learned  collator  of  our  own  country,  in  whole  MS.  we  find  an  ingenious 
etymology  and  topographical  agreement  in  relation  to  the  matter  before  us.  '  This  har- 
bour of  Falmouth  has  been  famous  over  Europe  and  Afia  ever  fince  the  ifland  was  firft 
known,  though  but  darkly  diftinguifhed  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans  under  feveral  appel- 
lations ;  for  inilance,  by  one  (in  Greek)  '  the  Mouth  of  the  Dujmionii  lAand  ■."  for  nei- 
ther Gi-eeks  nor  Romans  knew  whether  this  provmce  of  the  Dunmonii  was  an  ifland  of 
itlelf,  or  part  of  the  inliilar  continent  of  Biitain,  till  the  time  of  the  Roman  emperor 
Domitian,  when  he  circumnavigated  the  whole  ifiand  with  his  fleet.  Befide?,  it  was  the 
cuftom  of  the  Jews  and  Greeks,  to  call  remote  and  ftrange  lands,  Iflands,  and  the  natives, 
Iflandcrs:  to  which  purpofe  we  read,  Ilaiah  Ixvi.  19.  '  Tubal,  Javan,  and  tlie  iiks  afar 
off,"  which  were  the  continent  of  Greece  and  Spain."  Alio,  Genefis  x.  5.  and  elfewhere, 
by  the  name  of  the  ifles  are  meant  the  iflands,  and  in  general  all  the  provinces  of  Europe. 
And  it  is  obfervable,  that  where  the  prophet  Ilaiah  foretels  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles, 
he  makes  particular  mention  of  the  iflands,  (chap.  xli.  xUi.  xlix.  li.  Ix.)  which  maiiy 
interpreters  have  looked  upon  as  a  plain  intimation,  that  the  Clu'iftian  religion  (hould 
take  deepeft  root  in  thofe  parts  of  the  world,  which  were  feparated  from  the  Jews  by  the 
fea,  and  peopled  by  the  pofterity  of  Japhet,  who  fettled  themfelves  in  the  iflands  of  the 
Gentiles.  So  that  the  iflands,  in  the  prophetical  ilile,  feem  particularly  to  denote  the 
•weftem  part  of  the  world,  the  weft  being  often  called  the  Tea  in  fcriptare  language.  But 
to  proceed:  Strabo  calls  this  mouth  of  the  Vale  river,  Oftium  Kenionis,  and  morepro- 
.  perly  V'aluba,  or  Valubia  ;  that  is,  the  wall,  defence,  point,  or  promontory,  of  the  faid 
vale,  noc  St.  Anthony's  Point ;  or  Val-Ubii  from  the  colony  of  the  Ubii,  a  people  of 
Belgia,  who  planted  themfelves  on  the  Vale  river  before  Csefars  days. .  Further,  Diodorus 
Siculus  tells  us,  that  all  Tin  was  fetched  out  of  Britain  -.  as  it  is  in  fome  authors,  after 
the  Greek  verfion,  from  Kra-os  Iktx,  Ki  0.ct.x,  which  feems  to  fay  in  Bririfli,  firft,  the 
Good  Lake,  or  Haven  Ifland,  and  the  fecond  (what  we  nov/  call  Bud-Ok)  a  Bay  of 
Oak  Ifland;  and,  indeed,  the  memory  of  fuch  Ike  feems  yet  pre'erved  in  the  prelent 
names  of  Car-ike  road,  the  chief  part  of  Falmouth  harbour,  from  whence,  to  this  day, 
the  major  part  of  our  Tin  is  ftill  exported  ;  and  Arwynike,  and  Bud-ike  lands,  by 
vdiich  the  faid  harbour  is  bounded.  Now,  this  word  Ike,  I  am  informed,  is  derived 
trom  the  fame  Japhetical  origin  as  the  Greek  '?xo,  venio,  to  come,  arrive  at,  or  enter 
into  a  place  ;  and,  therefore,  as  aforelaid,  in  Comifh  Britilh,  it  means  not  only  a  haven 
of  the  fea  for  traffic,  but  a  place  where  a  river  of  water  hath  its  current  into  the  fea ; 
from  whence,  perhaps,  the  Latins  had  their  I(5lus,  to  fignify  the  courfe  of  a  river. 
And  from  this  etymology,  we  may  tlie  better  underftand  the  words  of  Diodorus  Sicu- 
lus. The  Ifland  which  he  calls  Iftam  or  Ifta,  adjoining  with  Britain,  is  certainly  that 
which  is  now  called  the  Black  Rock  Ifland  in  Car-ike  road  aforefaid ;  which,  as  he 
faid,  was  then  an  ifland  at  flood  or  full  fea,  though  at  low  water  pafl'able  from  the  main 
land.  There  is  alio  a  Cornilh  MS.  of  the  Creation  of  the  World,  a  Play,  brought  into 
Oxford  in  14.50,  and  which  is  ftill  extant  in  the  Bodleian  libi-ary  there ;  which  will  at 

the 

{a)  Ai  Baxttr,  GlofT.  in  voce  Sigdeles.  {t)  p.  76,  77,  -?. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  131 

the  fame  time  lerve  to  evince,  that  the  now  Black  rock  of  Falmouth  was  in  old  time  the 
IQand,  the  Ikta  of  Diodorus  Sicuius,  from  which  Tin  was  tranfported  into  Gaul.  LeJand 
the  eider,  in  his  Itinerary,"  tells  us,  that  this  river  was  encompafled  with  the  loftieft 
woods,  oaks,  and  timber  trees,  that  the  kingdom  afforded,  in  the  time  of  Hen.  VII, 
and  was  therefore,  by  the  Britons,  called  Cafli-tir,  and  Caffi-ter ;  that  is  to  fay.  Wood- 
land. From  which  place  and  haven,  the  Greeks  fetcliing  Tin,  called  it  and  the  Ifland, 
fo  often  heie  mentioned,  in  tlieir  language,  Cafuteros.  In  further  piaife  of  which  famous 
port,  nuy  the  reader  accept  the  followiiig  lines : 

In  the  cahn  fouth  Valubia's  haibonr  ffands. 
Where  Vale  with  fea  doth  join  its  purer  hands  ; 
'Twixt  wliich,  to  fhips  commodious  port  is  fliown. 
That  makes  the  riches  of  the  world  its  own. 
Ike-ta,  and  Vale,  the  Britons  cbiefeit  pride. 
Glory  of  them,  and  all  the  world  befide. 
In  fending  round  the  treafures  of  its  tide. 
Greeks  and  Phenicians  here  of  old  have  been  ; 
Fetching  from  lien-ce,  furs,  hides,  pure  corn,  and  Tio, 
Beibre  great  Caefar  fought  Caflibelyn."(<?) 

Having 

(it)  Pr)-ce's  Mineral.  Introd.  p.  lii.  to  vil.  The  above,  we  find,  is  borrowed  from  Hafe  or  Halfe  : 
It  occcrs  in  Halfe's  Parochial  Hlftory  &f  Cornwall.  As  there  is  an  entertaining  fingwiarity  in  this 
writer's  irkanner,  and  a  fmall  part  only  of  his  hiftory  hath  been  printed  (and  of  this  onJy  a  few  copies) 
1  ftiall  here  permit  Mr.  Halfs  to  fpeakat  large  for  himfelf,  though  the  fubftaace  of  IVis  theo/y  appears 
in  the  text.  "■  Falmouth,  a/Lm  Val-mouth,  alia^  Vale-mouth,  a  Reflor)',  is  fituatc  (fays 
Halfe)  in  the  hundred  of  Kenyer,  and  hath  apon  the  north  Bud-ike^  eafi  the  haven  or  harbour  o£ 
Tahnouthy  fouth  the  Black  Rkr  and  Pendca'.s  Caf^le,  wefl:  part  of  Bnd-iJce  and  the  Britip  Ckantsei. 
For  the  riame,  it's  taken  from  tha  Vale  river's  mr.ith,  which  here  empties  itfelf  into  the  Britip  ocean^. 
And  die  river  itfelf  takes  its  name  from  the  original  fountain  in  Reach  Mxtdet  Haynffiumagb,  called 
Pcn-ta-'uale  Fcntor.,  or  Ve?  ten;  that  is  to  fay,  the  head  or  ch,\ti gcod  or  confeerated  jfring^  or  well  of 
water  or  river  Vallej;  alias  Pen  ta--vail  patcny  i.  e.  ihe  facred  or  confecrsted  /jmoas  head  •aulf  or 
fpring  of  water:  From  thence  called  the  Vale  river.  This  pla«  in  Cortiip  is  called  ValgcMzv^  or 
Falgenue  ;  in  Saxon  Val-nrun  ;  in  EiigVp  Vak-mouth^  fynonymous  therewith.  This  harbour  of  Val  e- 
MouTH  hath  been  famous  over  Europe  and  Afia  ever  fince  this  ifland  was  firfl  known  ;  though  but 
darkly  diftinguiflied  by  the  Gret\%  and  Romar.%  under  feverai  appeBasions;  for  iaftance  by  one  (in 
Greek)  fignifying  the  Mouth  of  the  DaHmoKii  IJiand  :  For  in  former  days  neither  Greeks  nor  Roatam 
knew  whether  this  province  of  the  Danmoziii  was  an  ifland  of  itfeh",  or  part  of  the  infotar  continent 
of  Britain  ;  no,  not  'till  the  time  of  xh^Rcman  Emperor  Domitian,  when  he  circnm- navigated  the 
whole  ifland  with  his  fleet  of  fhips.  Eefides,  'twas  the  cuftom  of  the  Jews  and  Greeks  to  call  remote 
and  ftrange  lands  IJhiKds,  and  the  natives  Ifandtrs :  To  which  porpofe  we  read,  [Ifaiab  Ivi.  19.) 
Tubafy  yavan,  and  the  TJhs  afar  off)  which  were  the  Continent  of  Greece  and  Spaiv.  Again; 
Strabo  calls  tliis  moutii  of  the  Valx  river  Oftium  Ceei^rAs^  who  aUo  more  plainly  fpeaks  of  this 
place  under  the  names  of  Valuha  and  Volula  :  A  corruption  either  of  the  Britp  word  Val-eba^ 
i.  e.  the  ebbinc;-,  fiowing,  budling,  or  fialhing,  of  the  Vali  river;  or  Fal-abia,  that  is,  the  point  or 
promontoiy  of  the  faid  Vale,  now  St,  A/ubony^s  Point ;  or  Val-Ubii,  from  the  colony  of  the  Ubiiy  a 
people  oi  Befgia,  that  planted  ihemfelves  on  the  Vale  river  before  Cesar's  days.  From  which 
Ubii  might  come  Com-ubi-erfi,  Again;  Dioifoms  Sicuius  tells  us  that  all  tin  was  fetdied  out  oi Bri- 
tain; as  it  is  in  fome  authors,  after  the  Creek  verfion,  from  N^cror  lic-ra;,  xt  O-t-rce,  \_Nefos,  Ik-ta, 
it  Oc-ia.]  vAach  feems  to  fay  in  Britip,  the  firft,  the  Good  Lake,  cove,  or  haven,  ijand,  and  the 
fecond  (what  we  now  call  Bud-oPj  a  bay  cfGai  Ijland.  And  indeed  the  memory  of  fuch  Ike  feems 
yet  preferved  in  the  prefem  names  of  Car-ike  road,  the  chief  part  of  the  harbour  of  Falmotitb  (from 
whence  comparatively  ffill  all  tin  is  tranfported)  and  Ar-tuys-ike  and  Bud-ike  lands,  by  which  the 
faid  l\arbour  is  bounded.  Now,  this  word  Ihcy  I  am  jnform'd,  is  derived  from  the  fame  Japhetical 
origin  as  the  Gr.  nx^i,  \_eko'\  itevio,  to  arrive  at,  or  enter  into  a  place;  and  therefore,  as  afore- 
faid,  in  Comp  Britip  it  fignifies  not  only  a  bai'ca,  harbour,  or  creek,  of  the  fea  for  traffick,  but  a 
place  where  a  river  of  water  hath  its  current  into  the  fea,  or  other  places  of  water.  From  whence 
perhaps  the  Latins  had  their  L'Jus  to  fignify  the  courfe  of  a  river.  And  from  this  cxpofition,  or  ety- 
mology, we  may  the  better  underhand  Diodorus  Siculus'%  words,  as  out  of  the  G>-cei  rendered  into 
Latin.,  thus  : — Britani,  qui  j'uxta  Valeriti/i:  promoKtoriun  [a  corruption  of  Pel-ter-an  Fremcjitariam,  i.e. 
the  remote  or  far-off"  promontory  of  land;  viz.  thtLasd's  End  of  Comivn/] — ixcolunty  mercatoribas., 
qui  eo  fianni  gratia  narjigant,  humaniores  rtliqais  erga  boffises  babsvtur.  Hi  ex  terra  ^jaxofuy  mjus  -uenas 
fequuiiy  effodiunt  Jlannum ;  qucd,  per  ignem  edu£ium^  in  quandani  infulam  ferunt  Brttannlcam  juxta,  qtram 
l€tam  t>ocant.     Marls  Pti.su  wdintur  inful<e ;  ck/s  vera  rejiuit  exjiccai)  isterjeffo  litlii'e  curriiit:  ec^at:- 

VOL.  1.  Ra  utttK 


J32  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

Hax^iiig  thus  laid  befoi-e  my  readers  the  common  interpretation  of  the  palTage  in  qiief- 
tioil,  as  well  as  what  I  have  called  the  wfw  theories  concerning  it,  I  proceed  to  ftate  my 

objeftions 

nufh  JeJ}ruht,  &c.  Ex  his  Irfulis  mercatores  e^ptum  fiannum  in  Galliam  portant ;  ir.de  Jiehus  fere  tri- 
ginta  cum  ejuis  ad  fontem  Etidani  Jiufninis  pcrducur.t,  h.  e.  '  The  Britons  who  inhabit  near  the  Pro- 
montory Vaiirium  (or  the  Land's  End)  are  by  the  merchants  who  thither  fail  for  tin,  accounted  more 
courteous  or  civil  to  ftraiigers  than  the  reft  are.  Thefe  people,  purfuing  the  courfe  of  its  veins,  out 
of  the  rocky  earth  dig  tin ;  which  commodity,  being  melted  or  run  down  by  fire,  they  carry  to  a 
certain  Briti/h  ifland  nigh,  which  they  name  IHj.  In  time  of  highwater  indeed  they  appear  ijlands ; 
but  at  ebb,  the  (hore  between  them  and  the  (infular)  continent  being  dry,  they  thither  in  carriages 
convey  the  tin,  &c.  From  which  iflands  the  merchants  tranfported  the  tin  they  purchafe  into  GjuI,  &c.' 
The  Ifland  which  he  calls  JFtan:,  or  I5ia,  adjoining  thus  with  Britain,  is  certainly  that  which  is  now 
called  the  Black  Rock  Ifland,  in  Car-ike  road  aforefaid  ;  which,  as  he  faid,  was  then  an  IJJjnd,  at  flood 
or  full  fea,  tho'  at  low  water  pafl^able  from  the  main  land.  Which  was  then  a  true  defcription  thereof; 
tho'  fmce  by  the  raging  flux  and  reflux  of  the  fea  the  faid  lands  and  rocks  are  fo  much  wafli'd  away, 
that  it  is  not  now  paflable  to  the  faid  Black  Rock  Ijhr.d  on  foot  at  low  water  from  ArwirAc  lands  con- 
tiguous. From  or  by  which  place  the  tin  then  made  was,  and  ftill  is,  by  merchants  tranfported  into 
France;  and  from  thence  in  thofe  days  it  was  carried  thirty  days  journey  on  horfeback;  and  fo  over 
the  Alps  into  Italy,  even  to  the  fountain  Eridanus,  now  called  the  Po.  This  harbour  of  Falmouth, 
as  mariners  declare,  is  in  all  refpefts  the  largeft  and  fafeft:  haven  for  fliips  which  this  ifland  of 
Britain  affords.  Its  mouth  or  entrance  from  the  Britifl}  ocean,  between  tlie  caftles  of  St.  Maios  and 
Pendenis  (fituate  one  in  St.  Antkony,  the  other  in  Falmo-Jth  pariflaes)  is  about  a  mile  and  half  wide; 
the  centre  or  middle  thereof  above  a  league  from  the  faid  mouth  or  entrance  up  the  Vale  river, 
by  the  very  Rock  IJland  aforefaid,  to  Car-iki  Road,  King's  Road,  and  Turner's  JVere.  South  eaft, 
about  two  leagues  from  thence,  ftill  on  the  Faie  river,  a  na\igable  arm  orchanel  of  the  faid  harbour 
extendeth  itfelf  up  the  country,  by  Tregny  ;  to  the  bridge  place  of  v.'hich  formerly  it  was  navigable. 
And  it  is  overlooked  on  the  fouth  eaft  fide  by  St.  Anthony,  St.  J-^ft,  Phdlcy,  Ruan-Laivny-Home^ 
and  Cuby  parifties.  Within  the  faid  pariflies  of  St.  Jujl  and  St.  Ar.thory  are  alfo  two  navigable  creeks 
or  channels.  Here  ftands  the  caftle  and  incorporate  town  of  St.  Ma-n-cs,  where  formerly  ftood  a 
monaftery  of  black  canons  y^.vf«y?;«<?,  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  called,  St.  Mary  de  Vc.h,  for 
fhat  it  was  fituate  on  the  Vale  harbour  or  river;  as  its  fupehor  monaftery  is  from  the  Plyv:  river  in 
pe--aon,  called  St.  Mary  de  Plym,  whereon  it  is  fituate.  From  the  north  wefl  part  of  this  hai  hour  of 
Falmouth,  between  the  parifties  of  Budock,  Giwvias,  and  Alyier,  another  navigable  channel  ex- 
tendeth itfejf  up  the  country  to  the  incorporate  town  of  Pcnryn.  And  towards  the  north  another 
channel  thereot  higher  up  extendeth  itfelf  through  the  country  from  the  centre  about  a  league,  and 
is  navigable  to  Peran  J'Fcll  and  Carnan  Bridge,  Further  up  north  eaft  another  channel  or  (jrm  of 
Falmouth  harbour  extends  itfelf  to  the  incorporate  and  coinage  town  of  Trun^  and  the  manor  of 
Mcris,  and  is  navigable  there,  about  nine  miles  diftant  from  the  Black  Rock  or  IJland  aforemen- 
tion'd.  Laftiy,  another  branch  of  this  harbour  extends  to  Tref.Uan  bridge,  where  it's  navigable 
between  the  paritTies  of  St-  Hcnne,  Probus,  and  Mertber,  about  ten  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
liaven  and  t!ie  aforefaid  ifland..  All  which  members  or  branches  of  this  noble  harbour  are  overlook'd 
by.  pleafant  hills  and  vales  of  land,  and  within  the  memory  of  man  abounding  witli  flpuriflnng  v.  oods 
and  groves  of  timber;  and  before  that  time  Leland  the  elder  in  his  Itinerary  tells  us,  that  tiiis  rivtr 
Vale  was  in  his  days  encompafled  about  with  the  loitieft  woods,  oaks,  and  timber  trees  that  this 
kingdom  afforded.  Temp.  Henry  VII.  and  was  therefore  by  theBrit-^ns  called  Cafji-tir,  and  Caji-ter^ 
that  is  to  fay,  JVood-Lar.d  ;  from  which  place  and  haven  the  Greeks,  fetching  tin,  called  it  and  the 
JJland  fo  often  here  mentioned  in  their  language  Cajfiteros.  Thus  in  Bodman,  Cajpter-fireet  formerly 
fl  coinage  town.  But  now  this  commodity  of  TIN  hatli  made  fuch  havock  of  woods  and  tim- 
ber trees,  in  fearching  for  and  melting  the  fime,  that  fcircely  any  of  them  are  to  be  feen  in  thofe 
places.  For  the  woods  and  trets  being  cut  down  and  grubb'd  up,  the  hills  and  vales  have  fubmitted 
to  agriculture,  and  are  become  arable  and  paftuie  lands,  abounding  with  corn,  iheep,  and  cattle. 
From  the  premifes,  I  fuppofe,  'tis  evident,  what  Mr.  Care-zv  in  his  Sur'-jcy  faith,  of  this  excellent 
harbour  of  Falr.-.cutb,  that  an  hundred  fliips  may  He  at  anchor  within  the  fame,  and  none  of  them 
fee  the  others  main-tops;  the  jcifon  of  v/l.ich  is,becaufe  of  the  fteep  hills  and  long  windings  of  the 
feveral  channels  or  branches  thereof."  p.  123  to  125.  And  again  :  "  Between  the  parifties  of  Bud- 
ock and  Gtuiij!,  on  a  promontory  of  land  ftiooting  into  the  feacreek  of  Falmouth  harbour,  between 
two  vaUey?  and  hilh,  wliere  the  tide  daily  makes  its  flux  and  reflux,  ftands  the  ancient  burrougli 
of  PEN-RIN,  or  PEN-RTN;  i.  e.  the  hill-head,  promontory,  or  beak,  of  land;  for  as  pen  is  a 
head  in  Cornijh,  fo  rin,  or  ryr,  is  derived  from,  and  fynonymous  with,  tiie  gaphetical  Greek  p  jv, 
\rir.j  nai'us,  a  nofe,  nook,  promontory,  or  beak  of  any  matter:  A  name  given  and  taken  from  the 
natural  circumfiances  of  the  pl.ice,  as  aforefaid.  And  here  are  loft)  lands,  ftill  called  the  Rins,  above 
the  town.  By  tlie  name  Per.-rin  it  was  taxed,  as  the  voke  lands  of  a  confiderable  manor,  in  Dome's 
day  roll,  20.  WjLHAM  I.  J0S7.     This  place  I  apprehend  to  be  the  O/.^mij.  I0krir.um'\  oi  Ptolemy, 

the 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  ijj 

objefHons  to  both.  With  refpeft  to  the  former,  Dr.  Borlafe  has,  in  a  great  meafure, 
anticipated  me ;  whilil  he  points  out  the  ablurdity  of  the  fuppofition,  that  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Land's- end  fliould  convey  their  tin  in  carts  near  two  hundred  miles,  when  they 
had  as  good  ports  on  their  own  Ihores  as  on  the  Ifle  of  Wight.  Not  that  Diodorus  meant 
to  confine  this  bufinefs  to  the  Danmonii  of  the  Land's-end.  But  the  remotenefs  of  the 
lile  of  Wight,  even  from  the  people  who  lived  on  the  banks  of  the  Tamar,  would  be  a 
fufficient  objeftion  to  it.  Dr.  Borlafe's  remark,  alfo,  on  the  civilization  of  the  Danmonii, 
from  their  intercourfe  with  merchants,  feems  to  have  fome  weight.  For,  furely,  if  the 
Ifle  of  Wight  had  been  the  common  emporium,  thofe  merchants  need  not  have  mixed 
with  the  Danmonii.  They  would  naturally  have  refided  in  the  fea-ports  of  Hampfliire, 
not  of  Devonfliire  or  Cornwall.  The  lall  objection  of  the  Doftor  to  the  Ifle  of  Wights 
its  prefent  diftance  from  the  main  land — has  no  force.  I  am  willing  to  allow,  that  the 
Ille  of  Wight  was  alternately  an  illand  and  a  peninliila,  in  the  days  of  Diodorus.  Since 
thofe  days,  our  coalls  have  undergone  various  changes.  But,  to  caiTy  on  their  tin-trade 
hi  this  manner,  mull  have  been  extremely  inconvenient  to  the  Danmonii,  And  it  is  im- 
probable, that  they  ihould  lay  themfelves  under  obligations  to  the  people  of  Hampfhire, 
Vi'ithout  a  motive — that  they  ihould  prefer  a  reftricled  and  uncertain  commerce  in  a  diftant 
territory,  to  an  unembarrafi'ed  and  uuprecarious  trade  at  home  j  though,  at  the  fame 
time,  the  ports  of  Devon  and  Coj^nwall  were  equal,  if  ngt  fuperior,  to  thofe  of  Hamp- 
fliire. But  let  us  difmifs  the  Ille  of  Wight.  One  of  the  Scilly  Ifles,  called  Miiiis,  has 
the  next  claim  to  our  attention.     Yet  it  deferves  a  momentary  attention  only.     At  this 

advanced 

the  Greek  geographer  of  the  Dar.mwli^  An.  Dcx.  140.  (by  Cjmdcr:,  through  his  ignorance  of  the  Brmjh 
tongue,  placed  at  St.  Michaels  Mount)  it  being  only  a  corruption  of  Oc  or  Ok-rjn-an ;  as  much  as  to 
I'ay  the  Oak-Nojc-Hul,  or  Oak-Promontory-Hill;  referring  to  the  terminative  particles  of  the  com- 
pound words  Bud-oi'/t  and  Pen-rw.  To  prove  this  conje<flure,  I  find,  in  the  manufcripts  of  the 
Br'u'ijh  and  Welch  bards  i^ul  the  Trjidts,  Jl>:.  Dorr.,  600,  this  place  is  diftinguifh'd  with  two  appella- 
tions, Pen-rhi-Goad  (i.  e.  the  Promontory  Head  Wood)  and  Pcn-r'n:  Hai/f-tcrt  (that  is  to  fay  Penrin 
Summer-Town)  j  it  being  even  to  tliis  day  fuitably  called  in  modern  ErigHJh  the  Summer  Court  Town. 
It  being  thus  fituate  on  the  fea  fliore,  it  was  heretofore  availed  and  fortified  for  its  defence  againft 
enemies;  near  which  two  watch-rowers  are  Aill  in  being.  Moreover,  to  prove  that  this  town  was 
formerly  fituated  in  an  oak  ivjod,  or  at  lealt  fome  other  wood,  I  call  for  evidence  the  Comijh  manu- 
fcript  of  tli;-  Creation  of  thi  Worlds  a  play,  brougln  \x\xoOxfoid  in  1450,  and  which  is  Aill  extant  in 
tlie  Bodliian  library  there ;  v/hich  will  .it  the  fame  time  fsrve  to  evince  that  the  now  Black  Rock  of 
Fa/mouth  was  in  old  time  the  Jjhnd  (viz,  the  Ikta)  of  Dhdorut  Siculus,  by  which  tin  was  tranfported 
into  Gallia.  A  few  words  therefore  of  it  here  follow  faithfully  trapfcribed,  with  their  translation; 
they  being  fpoken  as  by  Solomon.,  rewarding  the  builders  of  the  univerfe  : 

Banjieth  an  Tas  ivor  -zvhy  ; 

I'Vh'j  ffth  •vcct  givyr  Gohei  y, 

PFhyr  'Gober  ercdyc 

VAirbartb  gjm  ol  G-zvecl  Rohcllan, 

Hag  Goad  Penrin  a:tle>:,  -' 

^in  Ennis,  £.7^  Arvvinlck, 

Tregimber,  h.ig  Kegillack. 

Anlhoiho  Gurry  the  ivhy  Chauter, 
b.  e. 

Blcfllng  of  the  Father  on  You  ; 

You  fiiall  have  your  Reward. 

\'our  wages  is  prepared 

Togetl'.er  with  all  the  Fields  of  Bobellan, 

And  the  It'ood  of  Penrin  entirely, 

The  IJla^J  and  .ilrii-lv-.ck, 

Tregcmhci-  and  Keg  y.'Lick, 

Of  them  make  you  a  Deed  or  Charter. 
JLaftly  5  thougli  at  prefent  Penryn  hath  no  timber  nvood  pertaining  thereto,  yet  within  the  memory  of 
the  laft  age  much  oak  timber  trees  were  extant  about  ir,  and  lately  fome  antient  trees  were  growing 
in  the  flreets  thereof;  all  pointed  at  and  preferved  in  the  name  of  Bud-Ock,  a  co-je,  creek,  or  bay  of 
(lak.  And  that  the  now  Black  Reck  of  Falmouth  is  the  N^croy  Iktx,  y.i  Oktx,  of  the  Greeks,  [i.  e. 
Acfos  Jk-ta  ki  Okta^  i.e.  the  ifland  Ike-\.:\  and  0/;-ta,  ngnifying  the  cove,  creek,  or  harbour  good, 
and  oak  good,  (now  Falmouth)  I  make  no  queftion.  Of  which  fee  more  under  Falmouth.  Other- 
wife,  I  confefs,  Bud-ikc  may  be  interpreted  the  b.iy,  creek,  cove,  or  bofom  of  v  aters,  leading  to  the 
fea."    p.  145,  146. 


134  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

advanced  llage  of  the  Danmonian  tin-trade,  to  have  recourfe  to  the  Scilly  Ifles  wortid  be 
ridiculous.  Borlafe  allows  that  Devonfllire  had  a  principal  fliare  in  the  trade.  And 
would  he  bring  down  our  Dartmoor-tin  to  one  of  the  Sciily  Ifles,  to  be  imported  thence 
to  the  Continent  of  Gaul  ?  Befides,  he  rells  his  hypothefis  upon  an  unv/arrantable  ai- 
fuin pti on  ;  not  fcrupling  to  affert,  that  "  Diodorus  co/i/cKw^j^  the  tin-trade  of  tlie  Land's- 
end  with  that  of  the  Scilly  Ifles.  As^  to  the  lltuaticn  of  the  Scilly  Ifles,  they  lay,  accord- 
ing to  old  writers,  between  Europe  and  Britain,"'  This,  It  feems,  was  all  the  ancients 
kiK:w.  Here,  then,  it  fuits  our  authors  purpofe,  to  expofe  the  geographical  inaccuracy 
of  the  ancients,  and,  particularly,  their  indiftinft  notion  of  the  Sciily  Ifles.  Let  us  pro- 
ceed. The  Iftis  of  D.odoru5  is  dilcovered  to  be  the  Miftis  of  Pliny  :  But,  unfortunately, 
the  Miftis  of  Pliny  was  ihi  days  fail  from  Britain.  Thus,  at  the  moment  of  its  appeai-- 
ance,  it  vaniflies  .-  And  we  have  feen  it,  only  to  regret  its  lofs  !  Vainly  would  the  Doctor 
tell  us,  th?.t  "  when  tlie  ancients  reckoned  this  place  flx  days  fail,  they  did  not  mean 
from  the  nearefl:  part  of  Bri:ain,  but  from  that  part  of  Britain  nearell  to  Gaul,  from 
which  to  the  Scilly  Iflands  the  diltance  was,  indeed,  fix  days  ufual  fail  in  the  early  times 
of  navi!;ation."  If  this  be  admitted  as  a  folution  of  the  diflicuky,  it  brings  an  argument 
in  favor  of  the  accuracy  cf  the  ancients.  Thus,  at  one  time,  the  geography  of  the  ancients 
is  dark  as  Erebus,  at  another,  as  clear  as  the  fun.  But  when  we  fay,  that  an  ifland  lying 
otf  the  coali  of  Britain,  is  fix  days  iail  from  it,  are  we  not  underuood  to  mean,  the  part  of 
Britain  nearell:  to  the  ifland  ?  Any  other  interpretation  feems  forced.  Grant,  however, 
for  the  f.ike  cf  argument,  that  Miciis  was  fix  days  fail  from  that  "  part  of  Britain  neareli 
to-  and  in  fight  of  Gaul."  Dees  this  conce.flion  bring  us  nearer  to  the  point  in  queftion  ? 
Kath  Mictis  any  new  pretenfions  to  our  notice,  as  the  Iftis  of  Diodorus  ?  By  adopting 
aSci  tafe's  opinion,  we  dellroy  at  once  the  authority  of  Diodorus — we  dafli  to  atoms  the  very 
paflage  which  is  the  groundwork  of  all  our  theories.  If  Ii^is  be  Miftis,  it  rnuft  either  be 
the  ijle  to  Tvklch  tin  ivas  connjeyed  fron  the  furround'tng  rjlets  of  Scilly  ;  cr  it  mufl  be  the  ijle 
to  -rvhich  tin.  -ivas  conuejed  from  the  Land's-end — in  both  cafes  preuioufy  to  the  exportation 
afthis  vietalinto  Gaul. — In  the  frjl  cafe  (which  Borlafe  fuppofes  to  be  true)  Diodorus  talks 
abfolute  uonfenle.  And  Borlate  obliges  him  to  inform  us,  in  the  i'elf-fame  words,  (a) 
"  that  the  people  of  theLand's-end  convey  their  tin  in  carts  to  an  adjacent  ifland,  whence 
it  is  flapped  oir  for  Gaul — and  tliat  the  people  of  Sciily  convey  their  tin  in  carts  from  ali 
their  iiiets,  to  one  common  ifland,  whence  it  is  fliipped  off  for  Gaul."  This  is  all  in  one 
breath  !  It  is  like  the  fatyr  blowing  hot  and  cold  i  Thus  is  our  poor  hiftorian  nreffed  into 
the  fervice  of  conjefturifts.  Thus  cruelly  is  he  tortured,  and  forced  to  mutter  falftiood, 
as  he  writlies  upon  the  wheel  of  the  executioner.  In  the  fecond  cafe,  Diodorus  leads  our 
merchants  to  their  journey's  end,  by  a  route  mofl:  unconfcionably  circuitous.  When  the 
Cornifli  would  go  eaft\vard,  the  Greek,  in  mere  wantonnefi,  turns  tjicir  faces  to  the  weft. 
Not  to  iufifi:  on  the  expedition  of  the  Devonihire  miners  from  the  hills  of  Dartmoor  to 
the  Scilly -Ifles,  to  have  their  goods  (kipped  off  for  France,  let  us  look  only  to  the  hard 
lot  of  the  inhabitants  of  tlie  Bolerium.  With  the  view  cf  conveying  their  tin  to  Gaul, 
Diodorus  orders  them  to  fet  off — f«r  the  Ifles  of  Sciliy.  The  Scilly  liles  lie  about  nine 
leagues  well  of  the  Land's-end :  And  over  nine  leagues  were  the  Danmonii  doomed  to 
drive  their  waggons.  Having  accomplKhed,  however,  this  more  than  Herculean  labor,  they 
had,  I  luppofe,  to  felicitate  themfelves  on  the  progrefs  of  their  tin  towards  the  Gallic  coalt. 
But  a  truce  to  badinage.  Borlafe  was  clearly  mifled  by  founds,  when  he  fubftituted  MiSis 
for  Iclis.  In  hi^  Natural  Hiftory  of  Cornwall,  he  lays  ;  "  Where  this  Iftis  was,  I  really 
ea'inot  inform  the  reader."  Yet,  in  his  ancient  and  prefent  State  of  the  Ifles  of  Scilly,  he 
"  does  not  at  all  doubt  but  that  by  Iftis,  Diodorus  Siculus  meant  Miftis" — whence  we 
might  ahnoft  infer,  that  in  the  theory  which  I  have  been  examining,  he  was  occupied  by 
the  delirium  of  the  moment.  Next  comes  the  Black-rock  conjedture  j  which,  though  it 
was  thrown  out  at  random  by  Haifa,  who  vmderllood  neither  Greek  nor  Latin,  and  hath 
been  fupported  by  Pryce,  who  was  confefledly  ignorant  of  Greek,  and  whofe  knowledge 
of  the  Latin  was  equivocal,  is  yet  fpecious,  and  I  will  venture  to  fay,  ingenious.  Such 
it  appears,  when  we  confider  the  periodical  peniniularity  of  the  Black-rock  in  former 
times,  the  name  of  Ickta  correfponding  with  1-k\is,  and  the  fituation  of  Falmouth  harbour 
lefs  objectionable  than  that  of  the  Ifle  of  Wight,  or  of  the  Scilly  Ifles.  But  feveral  iflands 
on  our  coafts  were  temporary  peninfulas  :  So  that  the  cafe  of  the  Black-rock  is  not  fmgu- 

lar. 

{a)  "  It  is  all  the  fame  in  the  Greek"—to  fiteraltKe  a  vulgar  proverb. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD..  ,35 

iar.  As  to  the  name  of  Ickta  (or  Ick)  it  is  commonly  applied  to  creeks  in  Cornwall(«)  % 
And,  the  lituation  of  the  Black-rock  (though  comparatively  good)  was  not  the  moft 
eligible  for  the  Danraonii  eaft  of  the  Tamar.  In  fhort,  as  it  is  the  cafual  name  of  Ickta 
which  wings  us  to  the  haibour  of  Falmouth,  I  can  by  no  means  alight  on  the  Black-Rock 
as  the  y/ia-ot  'jr^oKtii^iny  of  Diodorus.  Here,  then,  we  hover  in  vain  :  And,  thouc-h  we  have 
long  fluttered  over  the  world  of  waters,  we  have  found  no  refting-place.  To  raife  objec- 
tions in  this  manner,  againll:  the  theories  of  others,  is  eafy  :  But  to  form  a  new  tlieory,  is 
difficult.  Perhaps,  in  the  prelent  cafe,  no  conjecture  can  be  thrown  out,  that  may  boldly 
claim  uniyerfal  attention.  It  is  not,  tberefoje,  with  an  air  of  triumph  that  I  propofe  my 
own  opinions.  With  the  view  of  exciting  antiquarians  to  this  enquiry,  I  have  only  to 
intimate,  that  I  have  often  looked  to  the  Ifland  of  St^  Nicholas,  as' the  ItStis  of  Dio- 
dorus. In  this  light,  St.  Nicholas  feems  to  be  entitled  to  a  moment's  coniideration. 
It  is  fituated  in  P  ly  mouth  -  S  ound  ^  "  the  firft  promontory  on  the  weil  ude  of  which,  (lays 
<:ai-ew)  is  Pxome-head.  From  thence  trending  Fenlee -Point,,  you  difcover  Kings-fand  and 
Caufam-Bay.  In  the  mouth  of  the  harbour,  lyeth  St.  Nicholas  Ifland ^  in  fafliiou 
lofengy,  in  quantity  about  3.  acres,  ftrongly  fortifyed,  carefully  guarded,  and  fubjeft  to 
the  commaunder  of  Plymmouth  fort.  From  this  ijlatzd,  a  range  oj  rocks  reacheth  o'ver  to 
the  fouthvjeji  Jhore,  dijconjersd  at  the  lo--jj  ivater  of  fpring  tides,  &  leaving  oueiy  a  narro^jj 
fKtrance  in  the  midji  called  the  Tate,  for  Jhips  to  pajje  ihoronju,  luhereto  they  are  dlreMed  by 
(ertaine  markes  at  land.''^  (/>) 

From  the  correfpondence  of  tliis  defcription  with  that  of  Diodorus  Siculus from  the 

appellation  of  I8is — from  the  Icite  of  St.  Nicholas  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tamar from  its 

central  poiltion  in  regard  to  Devon  and  Cornwall — from  the  aftual  conventions  of  the 
Devonfljire  and  Corniih  miners,  in  its  vicinity — ^from  the  ancient  mines  both  to  the  eali 
and  weft  of  it,  particularly  the  tin-works  of  Dartmoor — from  its  fituation  in  reference  to 
Gaul — and  from  the  Grecian  factory  at  the  Ramhead,  near  which  it  lies,  as  connefted 
with  the  Greeks  of  MarfeiUes,  I  ccnfefs,  I  have  a  flirong  fufpicion  that  this  little  ifle  might 
have  been  the  identical  IjAj.  The  correfpondence  of  this  defcription  ^uuith  that  of  Diodorus 
Siculus,  muft  be  evident  at  a  glance,  Diodorus  defcribes  a  certain  ifle  adjacent  to  the 
lliores  of  25ritain — wj^ov  Trprr/^iixvj-nv.  Such  is  St.  Nicholas.  And  this  ifle  (he  intimates) 
is  fituate  between  Britain  and  the  continent :  So  is  St.  Nicholas.  The  name  of  this  ifle, 
he  fays,  is  It^is.  And  IJlis,  we  fliall  fee  (which  is  Cornubritilh)  was  probably  the  firft 
name  of  St.  Nicholas.  The  fpace  between  I6tis  and  the  main-land  (he  adds)  becomes 
an  ifthmus  at  the  reflux  of  the  tide.  Such,  eveji  now,  may  almoft:  be  faid  of  St.  Nicholas  • 
flnce  "  from  this  ifland,  a  range  of  rocks  reachetti  over  to'tbe  fouth-weft  fliore,  difcovered 
at  the  low  water  of  fpring-tides."  It  is  remarkable,  that  this  naiige  of  rocks  is  called  tlie 
Bridge.  Nor  have  I  a  doubt  but  that  in  the  time  of  our  hiltorian,  this  bridge  was  pafla- 
ble  :  And  great  quantities  of  tin,  from  the  weft,  were,  probably,  carried  over  it,  in  Cor- 
nifli  w.aggons.  Diodorus,  alfo,  informs  us,  that  the  ifles  in  general,  between  Britain  and 
the  continent,  were,  in  this  manner,  alternately,  iflands  and  peniniulas — the  truth  of  which 
is  abundantly  proved  by  the  Briti(h  hiftoiy,  and  tradition,  and  the  obfervations  of  tlie 
naturalift.  "  But  the  Iftis  of  Diodorus,  may  the  objedlor  fay,  muft  have  been  a  laro-er  ifle 
than  that  of  St.  Nicholas."  Doubtlefs  it  was  a  larger  ifle  than  St.  Nicholas  appears  at 
prefent.  Let  us  recoiled,  however,  the  vaft  changes  that  have  taken  place,  on  all  the 
coafts  of  Britain  and  its  neighbouring  ifles,  fince  the  time  of  Diodorus  :  Let  us  look  only 
to  the  alterations  in  the  Scilly  Ifles.  That  they  have  been  greatly  reduced  from  their 
original  fize,  is  evident.  And,  very  poflibly,  St.  Nicholas  has  been  reduced  in  the  fame 
proportion.    All  the  fouth-welt  coafts  and  adjacent  iflands  have  fuftered,  more  or  lefs,  by 

the 

{a)  "  Jf*— a  common  termination  of  creeks  in  CornwalJ;  as  Pord'inick,  PradmV*,  Portyfsick." 
Borlafe's  Vocabulary. 

(*)■'  Carew's  Survey,  p.  99.  Rifdon's  defcription  of  this  harbour  and  of  the  ifland,  is  as  follows  : 
«'  Between  Tamer  and  Plym,.is  fituate  that  town  fometime  called  Sumn,  of  its  foutherly  fcite.-— In 
the  Saxons  heptarchy,  this  harbour  v.as  called  Tamerivorth  (as  is  to  be  read  in  the  life  of  St,  Indrac 

tus)  if  St.  Nicholas  Ifland  be  not  meant  thereby.     For  Wcorth,  in  Saxon,  is  a  river-ifland Tuft 

before  the  harbour's  mouth,  lieth  St.  Nicholas's  ifland,  for  form  lozengee,  by  eftimation  three 
acres  of  land,  ftrengthened  by  art  as  well  as  nature,  and  is  fubjefl  to  the  command  of  the  captain, 
of  Plimouth  fort."  Leland  fays,  that  "  fValterus  de  Valle  torta  gave  to  Plymtoun-Priorie  the  Ifle  of 
S.  Nicolas  cum  cuniculis,  comeyning  a  2.  acres  of  ground,  or  more,  and  lying  at  the  mouthes  o( 
Tamar  &  Plym  ryvers."    Itinerary,  vol,  2,  p.  45. 


136  HlSTOaiCAL   VIEWS    op    DEVONSHIRE, 

the  force  of  the  elements,  particularly  by  the  depredations  of  the  fea.  Why,  then,  flioUld 
we  except  St.  Nicholas  from  the  wreck  ?  Thole,  however,  who  are  acquainted  witli  the 
prefent  appearance  of  St.  Nicholas,  will  make  no  fuch  exception.  From  its  fhelving- 
coafts  towards  the  fea,  there  are  rocks  that  run  out  to  a  great  length.  At  low  water,  their 
jurfaces  are  vifible  -.  And  they  are  evidently  very  extenfive.  When  we  confider,  then, 
the  defalcation  of  the  ihore,  from  fvibfidences  of  earth  and  other  caufes,  it  feems  rea- 
Ibnable  to  fuppofe,  that  thefe  ledges  of  rock  towards  the  fea,  were  once  covered  with 
ftrata  of  gravel  and  fand  and  earth,  forming  a  part  of  the  I(le  of  St.  Nicholas ;  but  that 
tliefe  different  layers  were  removed  in  a  courle  of  time  from  their  foundation  of  rock, 
fretted  away  by  the  gradual  fluctuation  of  the  fea,  difturbed  and  tumbled  into  the  deep 
fi-om  the  minino'  of  fubterraneous  waters,  divulfed  and  daflied  to  atoms  amidft  earth- 
quakes and  the  violence  of  the  tempell.  In  fliort,  failors  have  made  preciiely  the  fame 
obfervations  on  the  rocks  contiguous  to  St.  Nicholas,  as  on  thofe  between  the  Scilly  Ifles 
and  the  Cornifli  coaft.  Excepting  towards  Mount-Edgecumbe  and  the  fea,  no  rocks  arC 
dileoverable  adjoining  to  this  ifland.  The  other  parts  of  its  coaits  are  wadied  by  deep 
water.  Towards  the  fea,  however,  the  water  is  extremely  fliallow,  and  large  beds  of 
rock  are  very  apparent — whence  I  conclude,  that  a  great  part  of  the  iiland  hath  difap- 
peared  :    Nor  is  it  unlikely,  that  in  the  age  of  our  hiftorian,  St.  Nicholas  was  even  in 

point  of  fize,  as  eligible  an  emporium  as  the  Ifle  of  Wight,  (a) With  refpeft  to  tli« 

name  of  Ii^is,  Ick  is  undoubtedly  a  Corniih  word,  fignifying  a  creek.  It  is  preferved  in 
the  names  of  various  places  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Tamar,  and  the  Plym  :  And  all 
the  land  near  the  mouths  of  thefe  rivers  is  full  of  creeks.  In  his  defcription  of  the  courfc 
of  the  Tamar,  Borlafe  tells  us,  (b)  *'  that  the  Tamar  receiving  the  Tavy  on  the  eaft, 
and  having  made  a  creek  into  the  parifhes  of  Botsflemming  and  Landulph  on  the  welf , 
becomes  a  fpacious  harbour;  and  wadiing  the  foot  of  the  ancient  borough  of  Salta(h 
within  half  a  mile,  is  joined  by  the  Lynher  creek  and  river ;  then  pafting  ftraight  for- 
ward forms  the  noble  harbour  of  Hamoze,  (c)  called  formerly  Tamerworth  (d)  ;  where 
making  two  large  creeks,  one  called  St.  John's,  the  other  ^lillbrook,  at  the  welt,  and 
Stonehoufe  creek  at  the  eaft  (after  a  courle  of  about  forty  miles,  nearly  fouth)  the  Tamar 
pafl'es  into  the  fea,  having  Mount  Edgcumbe  for  its  weftcrn,  and  the  landiof  Stone- 
houfe and  St.  Nicholas  lUand,  in  Plymouth  Sound,  for  the  eaftern  boundary."  The 
»i»!T6y  of  Diodorus,  then,  had  received  a  Cornijl}  name,  in  the  days  of  the  hiftorian.  On' 
the  coafts  of  Hampfliire,  we  are  acquainted  with  no  fuch  term  as  Ick  or  Icha,  or  I;ci;y, 
as  fynonymous  with  creek.  And  the  Cornifli  would  naturally  give  this  name  to  an 
iiland  on  their  own  Ihores,  not  to  the  Ifle  of  Wight.  V/Jm  was  a  Corniih  ifland,  on  the 
Cornifh  coaft,  known  by  a  Corniih  name,  and  lb  denominated  by  the  people  of  Corn- 
w-all.  In  the  mean  time,  the  name  of  Iftis  may,  with  as  much  j-ealbn,  be  appropriated 
to  the  Ifle  of  St.  Nicholas  as  to  the  Black-Rock :  Yet  it  was  chiefly  the  name,  which 
led  Halfe  and  Pryce  to  exalt  their  Black-Rock  into  the  v/jaoy  of  tiie  Greek  hiftorian. 
The  prefent  appellation  of  our  Ifland,  is  evidently  modern.  In  the  Saxon  Period,  its 
name  is  fuppofed  to  have  been  Tamerivorth,  an  jjiaiid  at  the  vtov.th  of  the  'tamar.  But 
Ix]/y  is  a  term  more  peculiarly  deicriptive  of  it — the  if.o.nd  of  creeks,  or  the  creck-\J\and. — 
From  its  ftuation  at  the  month  of  fuch  a  fine  na-uigable  ri-x'cr  as  the  l^a/Jiar,  St.  Nicholas 
was  well  calculated  for  the  purpofes  of  merchandize.  And  the  Tamar  was,  undoubt- 
edly, navigated  by  the  Phenicians  and  Greeks.  As  it  was  entered,  in  a  fubiequent 
period,  by  the  Danes,  whence  they  committed  their  depredations  both  on  the  Devon- 
fliire  and  Cornifli  fides  of  it,  fo  was  it  freqiiented  by  the  earlieft  inhabitants  of  Danmo- 
uium,  who,  with  their  freights  of  tin,  lailed  down  to  the  Ifle  of  St.  Nicholas. — Thr 
central  fiiuation  of  St.  Nicholas,  rx'ith  regard  both  to  De-vo7iJhire  and  Corn^vall,  will  alford 
us,  alfo,  juft  grounds  for  fuppoling  it  to  have  been  the  general  depofitory  of  the  tin  raifed 
both  to  the  eaft  and  weft.     The  Phenician  navigators  are  thought  to  have  come  up  the 

Ts^iar, 

(«})  Let  me  repeat,  that  I  do  npt  here  acquiefcc  in  probabilities.  Mr.  Scawen  tells  us,  \a  his  MS. 
that"TuERX  w.^.s  A  YAtLEY  BETWEfN  RAMHEAD  AND  LOQE."  And  in  a  cfear  day,  tjC 
fays,  "  there  is  to  be  feen  at  the  loitcm  cf  (be  fa,  a  league  from  the  fliore,  a  wad  of  tivi^ir.'' 

{b)  Nat.  Hift.  p.  37,  38.  — "  5cgiit  a  mile  lower  lyith  Liner  Crcke.  goyng  up  onto  S,  Germape's. 
Then  brfikith  a  Y\x\eC.rdc,  out  caulljd  John's  or  Antony.  And  at  the  mouth  about  S.  Nicolas 
Vekith  in  a  Creek  gpying  Mp  to  MJlbrok  2.  miles  up  in  land  from  the  mayn  haven."  Lf^nd's  Itin. 
vol.  z,  p.  41.  {c)  Saxon  name  Ham-oze  ;  th^t  i§,  the  wet  oQZy  haljiuti9n^  circuit  *r  'v^^M^' 

(</)  Camden,  page  26. 


The    BRITiSH   PERIOD.  ?57 

Tamar,  very  foon  after  their  acquainirance  with  Danmomum.(<z)  They  inuff  have  dif- 
covered,  therefore,  the  Ifle  of  St,  Nicholas,  before  they  had  eltablifhed  any  faftorKis  id 
this  county.  But,  in  the  prefeiit  advanced  ftate  of  the  Britilh  commerce,  St.  Nichola-5 
was  furely  famihai-  to  the  different  fettlers,  who  availed  themfeh/es,  I  doubt  not,  of  its^ 
advantageous  htuation.  Whilil  the  colonifts  of  the  nortii  of  Devon  conveyed  their 
tin  to  the  banks  of  the  Tama\-,  whence  it  might  have  been  fliipped  of? and  brought  downs 
the  river  to  tliis  idand,  and  whiht  the  inhabitants  of  Dirtmoor  and  ail  the  country  bor- 
dering upon  the  Tamar,  freiglited  their  veifels  in  the  fame  manner,  and  unloaded  them,' 
alfb,  at  St.  Nicholas ;  the  C-jrnifli  even  from  tiie  Land's-end  (as  Diodorus  intimates )^ 
vtere  driving  their  <vaggons  towards  the  fame  common  depofitory  to  which  they  might 
eafily  pafs  at  low  water. — That  our  idea  of  tiie  convenience  of  fuch  a  central  fpot  to-  the 
tin-traders  of  Devon  and  Cornwall,  is  perfeflly  juft,  feems  evinced  in  the  ftrong;ft  man- 
ner, bj  the  aBual  ?neetings  of  the  De-vonjhire  and  Cornifh  miners  on  (^b')Hengsicn-donAJfi,  at 
no  great  diflance  from  our  ifuind,  for  the  purpole  of  renewing  the  remembrance  of  their 
"Unwritten  laws  (their  traditional  obfervances  of  high  antiquity)  and  of  fettlirrg  various 
points  in  wh'ch  both  parties  were  intereited,  either  as  tin-raanufafturers  or  merchants. 
Periodical  alTociations  of  this  k  nd  were  natural.  And  fuch  periodical  afibciations  took 
place  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Nicholas  from  time  ininTemorial,  many  ages  before  the  exift.- 
ence  of  any  written  ftannary  laws,  and  probably  in  the  Britiih  Period.  If,  then,  the 
Devonfhire  and  Cornilh  miners  were  in  the  habit  of  confulting  their  mutual  convenience;^ 
by  fach  meetings  at  a  central  fpot,  is  it  not  fair  to  conclude,  that  they  had  a  regard,  alio, 
to  the  common  advantage,  in  the  actual  exportation  of  their  tin,  and  that  they  conveyed 
this  metal  to  fome  port  of  traffick,  equally  commodious  to  both  parties  .?  This  port  was 
Ibme  ifland  on  their  coafts  :  And  where  can  an  iiland  be  found  more  accelhble  to  both' 
parties,  than  that  of  St.  Nicholas  ?  If  St.  Nicholas  were  in  thofe  days  fufficiently  large  for 
iiich  a  general  port  of  trafiick  (and  I  doubt  not  but  it  was)  its  lituatlon  more  eligible 
thaii  that  of  any  other  iAancl  on  the  fouth-wefl  (hores,  would  inftantly  determine  its  preten- 
lions  to  the  rank  I  have  given  it  in  the  commercial  world. — Let  us  add  to  this,  the  'vefli- 
ges  cf  ancient  tin-H.vorks  in  its  'vicinitj.  We  are  informed,  from  records,  that  "all  the  old 
mines  on  Dartmoor,  are  on  its  wellern  fide  towards  the  Tamar."  This  is  a  curious  cir- 
cumltance.  And  there  is  no  doubt  but  the  traces  of  old  tin-works  are  chiefly  on  the  wefo 
fide  of  the  foreft.  Here  are  ftrong  marks  both  cf  fliode  and  ftream  works.  The  boldell 
veftiges,  alfo,  of  our  ancient  Cornifli  mines,  are  very  near  the  Tamar.  (f)  It  is  natural, 
therefore,  to  conjefture,  that  the  greater  abundance  cf  tin  on  the  banks  of  the  Tamar, 
would  giyfe  a  proportionate  confequence  to  the  advenirurexs  of  the  neighbourhood  j  and 
that  the  weTght  of  interell  thus  irre(il1:ibly  acquired,  would  render  their  own  diltrift  the 


neighbouring  country ;  iince  the  expences  of  carriage  or  conveyance  muit  have  decreafed 
in  proportion  to  the  nearnefs  of  the  commodity  to  t!;e  place  of  exportation  ;  not  to  men- 
tion other  advantages  which  would  accrue  from  railing  and  preparing  the  tin,  amiclft  the 
confluence  of  merchants  and  the  fervor  of  commerce. — In  the  mean  time,  the  ftuaiioft 
of  St.  Nicholas  in  rtfpe£l  to  Gaul,  is  furely  preferable  either  to  that  of  the  Sciliy  Iflis  or 
of  the  Black-rock.  To  the  Ille  cf  Wight  I  fliall  not  recur  j  as  the  trade  in  queftion  was 
not  with  Hanipihire  but  with  Devonihire  and  Cornwall.     But  on  this  point,  as  fingly 

ta'kex3! 

(a)  Mr.  PInkerton  is  certainly  correft  in  his  idea,  that  the  Cafliterides  did  not  mean,  exclufively, 
the  Sciily  Ifles,  but,  alfo,  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

•  {b)  "  From  Plymouth  Haven,  pafTmg  farther  into  the  coantrie,  Hcngsten  do%one  prefenteth-his 
wafte  head  and  fides  to  our  fight.  This  name  it  boi^roweth  of  Hengst,  v/hich  in  the  Saxon  fignifieth 
a  horfey  Sc  to  fuch  leafl  daintie  beaffs  ic  yeel.leth  fitteft  pafture.  The  countrle  people  have  a  by  word 
that  Heng;7en-dow'ne,  well  ywrought, 

Is  worth  London  towne,  deare  ybought. 
Which  grewe  from  the  flora  of  tynae,  in  former  times,  there  digged  up :    But  that  gainfull  plentle 
is  now  fallen  to  a  fcant — faving  fcarcitie."     Carew's  Survey,  p.  115. 

{c)  "  By  the  ryver  of  Tamar  from  the  hedde  north  north  eft  yiTuyng  owt  towarde  the  fowthe,  the 
contery  being  hilly,'  ys  fertile  of  corne  &  greffe  with  fum  tynne  ivarkes  wrougtli  by  -vlolens  ofivater. 
Hengijion  bcyng  a  hy  hylle,  and  nere  Tamar,  yn  the  eaft  part,  baryn  of  his  felt,  yet  is  fertile  by  yeld- 
ing  of  tynne  both  be  water  &  dry  vvarkes."     Leland's  Itin,  vol,  4,  p.  113.  (Oxford  edit.  f](>^) 

Vol.  I.  S 


138  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

taken,  I  lay  no  ftrefs ;  though  it  may  be  adduced,  with  others,  in  favor  of  my  hypo- 
thefis. — My  lall  ai-gum^nt  was  drawn  from  ike  Greek  faSloty  at  the  Ratnhcad  (near  which 
St.  Nicholas  lies)  as  cofineded  n.vitb  the  Greeks  of  Marfeilles.  The  Greeks  of  the  Ramhead 
had  called  this  promontory  Kf/a  ^flawo^  ;  they  had  given  the  name  of  Txixxqos{a)  to  tlie 
viver,  at  the  mouth  of  which  our  ifland  is  fituatedj  and  to  the  illahd  irfelf  they  had  pro- 
bably affixed  the  appellation  of  ItCus.  And  nothing  is  more  likely,  than  that  this  Grecian 
fa<51:ory  fupported  a  regular  correl'pondence  with  their  brethren  at  Marfeilles.  As  the  com- 
munication, therefore,  of  the  Dannionii  with  foreign  merchants  through  the  port  of  Iftis, . 
was  indifputably  with  the  Greeks  of  Marfeilles  (for  this  is  an  hiftorical  faft,  not  an  hypothe- 
tical pofition)  I  conceive  it  probable,  that  the  port  of  I<Slis  was  at  the  Kle  of  St.  Nicholas 
adjoining  to  our  Grecian  fadory  of  the  Ramhead.  Diodorus  notices  our  tin-trade  with 
Marfeilles  from  the  port  of  Iftis,  at  this  very  conjunfture  :  And,  at  this  very  conjunfture, 
a  Grecian  fa<5lory  correfponding  with  the  Greeks  of  Maifeilles,  were  eRablilhed  at  the 
y-^iis  fj.fU"noy;  clofe  to  which  lay  the  Ifle  of  St.  Nicholas. — On  the  whole,  I  think,  thefe 
concurring  circumftances  give  a  plaufible  air,  at  leaft,  to  my  hypothefis  :  And  I  have 
iiated  my  ideas  merely  as  theoretical.  At  all  events,  I  conceive,  my  readers  will  agree  with 
me  in  opinion,  that  St.  Nicholas  hath  as  fair  a  claim  to  the  commercial  preheminence  of 
liiii^,  as  either  the  Ifle  of  Wight,  or  one  of  the  Scilly  Ifles,  or  the  Black-rock  of  Falmouth. 

At  this  advanced  ftage  of  the  Britifh  commerce,  there  were,  doubtlefs,  other  marts  of 
trade  on  the  fouth-coaft  of  Danmonium.  Such  was  the  cafe,  alfo,  on  the  north  fliore  ; 
whilll  commercial  fettlements  were  formed  on  the  Jugum  Ocritium,  communicating  with 
the  country  on  either  fide  of  it.  Among  other  ports  was  the  Oftimn  Ifca  flu-vii,  imme- 
diately connedled  with  the  capital  -.  and  at  Helenis  Pro?>io}itorium,  Ocrinum  Promontorium^ 
?tnA  Fromottoriutn  Anti--jeftau?n,  inferior  faftories,  poflibly,  were  t:itabliflied.(i)  And,  in 
the  north  of  Devon,  the  Phenicians,  we  doubt  not,  were  carrying  on  a  trade  of  fome 
confequence  ztHertlafid-Point ;  whilft  Okehampton,  on  xht  Ocrinum  fugurn,  was  the  prin- 
cipal link  in  the  great  commercial  chain. 

Who  thefe  foreign  merchants  were,  that  purchafed  the  tin  from  the  Danmonians  in 
this  illand,  and  tranfported  it  to  the  coaft  of  Gaul,  and  thence  overland  to  Marfeilles, 
the  hiftorian  hath  not  informed  us.  Probably,  the  Greeks  of  Marfeilles,  at  firft,  fent 
agents  of  their  own  to  Idis,  to  negociate  this  bufmefs,  but  afterwards  received  the  Britilh 
tin,  and  other  commodities,  from  the  hands  of  the  Gauls  5  fince  the  conduft  of  fuch  a 
trade  over  the  continent  of  Gaul,  required  the  afliftance  of  its  inhabitants.  The  Greeks 
of  Marfeilles,  after  they  had  begun  to  trade  in  this  manner,  could  not  expeft  to  confine 
the  Britifti  commerce  to  themfelves.  They  had  feen  rivals  in  the  Gauls,  particularly  the 
merchants  of  Narhontie,  a  rich  and  flourilhing  city,  on  the  coaft  of  the  Mediten-anean, 
not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rhone.  After  the  divifion  of  the  Biitilh  trade  between 
IMarfeilles  and  Narbonne,  the  merchants  of  Gaul  opened  feveral  new  routs  for  conveying 
their  goods  from  Britain  over  the  continent  of  Gaul,  to  thefe  two  great  cities.  They 
brought  their  goods  from  Britain  up  the  river  Seine,  as  far  as  it  was  navigable,  and  thence 
conveyed  them,  on  horfes,  overland,  to  the  Rhone,  on  which  they  again  embarked  them  ; 
and,  falling  down  that  river  to  the  Mediterranean,  landed  them  either  at  Marfeilles  or 
Narbonne.  On  their  return,  they  brought  goods  for  the  Danmonian  market  from  thefe 
cities  up  the  Rhone,  as  far  as  it  was  navtgable,  thence  overland  to  the  Seine,  and  down 
the  river,  and  acrofs  the  channel  to  Iftis,  and  other  parts  of  Britain.  But,  because  fo 
long  a  navigation  up  fo  rapid  a  river  as  the  Rhone,  was  attended  with  great  difficulties, 
they  fometimes  landed  tlieir  goods  at  Vienne  or  Lyons,  carried  them  overland  to  the 

Loire, 

(<7)  TaiJ.xfjS  from  'nolxij.os . 

{h)  Dr.  Stukeley  feems  to  infmuate,  that  there  was  a  Greek  fettlement  orfaaory  atSeaton.  "  Jiift 
by  tlie  prefent  fiaven  wall,  at  Scaton  (fays  Stukeley)  is  a  long  pier  or  wall  jutting  out  into  the  fea — 
made  of  great  rocks  piled  together,  to  the  breadth  of  fix  yards.  They  told  me,  it  was  built  many 
years  ago  by  one  Courd,  once  a  poor  failor  ;  who  being  fomevvhere  in  the  Mediterranean,  ivas  told 
hy  a  certain  Greek,  that  much  tre  fure  was  hid  upon  Hogfdon-hill  near  here,  and  that  thh  memorial 
•was  tranfmitted  to  him  hy  his  anceftors.  Courd,  upon  his  return,  digging  there,  found  the  golden  mine 
^and  at  his  own  expence  built  this  wall,  with  an  intention  to  reltore  the  harbour.  The  people 
hereabouts  firmly  beheve  the  ftory ;  and  many  have  dug  in  the  place  with  like  hopes."  This  tradi- 
tion reminds  me  of  the  old  Greek  pilot,  who  referred  Mr.  Anfon  to  the  days  of  his  anceftors — point- 
ing vvitii  conscious  pride  to  the  ifle  of  Teuedgs,  and  exclaiming—"  there  t«rr  fleets  lay"— during  the 
fiege  of  Troy. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  139 

Loire,  and  down  that  river  to  Vennes,  and  other  cities  on  the  coaft  of  Britanny,  and 
thence  embarked  them  for  Britain.  The  trade,  by  this  fecond  route,  was  carried  on  by 
the  Veneti,  the  belt  navigators  of  the  ancient  Gauh.  A  third  route  was  from  Britain  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Garonne,  up  that  river  as  far  as  it  was  navigable,  and  thence  overland 
to  Narbonne.  The  trade  of  Britain,  however,  was  not  long  confined  to  Danmonium, 
after  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Gaulifh  merchants.  It  gradually  extended  to  all  the 
coafts  oppofite  to  Gaul :  And  the  Belgse  and  other  nations,  who  polleft  thefe  coafts,  kept 
up  a  conltant  intercourfe  with  the  continent  whence  they  came,  (a) 

In 

(a)  The  following  is  an  extradt  from  Chappie's  long  digreflion  on  tlie  Britilh  commerce— a  dlgref- 
fion  from  which  he  frequently  digrefles  j  "•  Jticb  -vagatory  de-viatiom"  ferving,  in  his  opinion,  to  relieve 
the  tedioufnefs  of  "  in-varhibly  plodding  in  the  fame  dull  track  !  I  ! "  "  It  may  be  proper  to  remark 
that  although,  in  the  courfe  of  our  enquiries  on  this  fubjed,  we  have  fuppofed  with  Dr.  Borlafe^ 
that  the  Phoenicians  took  thofe  parts  of  Devon  and  Corniual!  which  produced  tin  to  be  ijlajidsy  and 
included  them  as  fuch,  with  thofe  now  denominated  the  Scilly  Iflands  j  yet  this  was  only  meant  of 
the  notions  they  might  have  of  them  at  the  time  v/hen  they  firft  difcovered  them ;  when  they  could 
know  no  more  of  Britain  or  its  ifles  than  the  fituation  of  thofe  parts  of  the  coafts  on  which  they 
landed,  or  had  obferv'd  from  their  fliips  4  and  could  no  more  guefs  at  their  extent  or  connexion, 
than  the  modern  Europeans  could,  'till  very  lately,  whether  Nsiv  Holland  or  New  Zealand  were 
iflands  or  continent.  But  we  cannot  fuppofe,  that  fuch  expert  navigators,  as  the  Phseniciaxi  un- 
doubtedly were,  could  long  remain  ignorant  that  the  eaftern  parts  of  the  tin- countries,  with  which 
they  mutt  foon  have  eftablilh'd  a  conftant  trade  for  that  metal,  were  connected  with,  and  parts  of, 
a  much  larger  traft  of  land  than  any  of  thofe  little  iflands  v.  ith  which  they  had  at  firft  confounded 
them.  And  yet  the  Greeks,  who  were  by  them  fiipplied  with  it,  but  were  wholly  unacquainted  with 
the  fituation  or  extent  of  the  countries  whence  they  had  it,  might  ftill  continue  the  name  they  had 
originally  adopted  to  diftinguifli  them,  arid  vshlch  became  the  common  appellation  of  all  places  pro- 
duftive  of  tin ;  which  metal  was  by  the  ancients  taken  to  be  a  fpecies  of  lead,  and  frequently  fo 
call'd.  Thus  Mela,  fpeaking  of  the  ifles  of  the  northern  ocean,  mentions  fome  Celtic  ones  which, 
becaufe  abounding  in  lead,  were  all  call'd  by  one  common  name,  CaJJiterides{i)  :  And  P/iwy  fays,(2) 
the  Cajfiterides  were  fo  caird  by  the  Greeks  from  being  fruitful  in  lead  ;  meaning  that  white  fort  of 
had  (as  they  fuppofed  it  to  be,  tho'  in  reality  a  different  metal)  which  Cafar  in  his  commentaries 
(fpeaking  of  the  tin  of  the  midland  or  interior  parts  of  Britain)  called  plumb-am  album.  That  the, 
Phceniclins  themfelves  did  not  immediately  know  ordiftingaifh  the  tin-country  of  the  Danvionii  from* 
the  Scilly  Ifles,  as  they  were  afterwards  call'd,  cannot  be  wonder'd  at ;  tho'  for  the  reafon  above 
fuggefted,  we  can't  doubt  of  their  being  foon  apprized  of  their  being  diftinft  and  feparate  from  them, 
and  that  they  could  fumifli  them  with  tin  in  much  greater  abundance  than  thofe  detach'd  little 
iflands  could  produce.  Other  nations  however,  for  above  500  years  after  this,  knew  very  little  of 
tlie  Britijh  Ifles,  or  whether  Britain  itfelf  were  really  fuch  or  not :  And  tho'  Julius  Cajar,  at  his  in- 
vafipn  oi  Britain,  appear?  to  have  been  well  inform'd  of  the  extent  of  its  Jouthern  coafts  (for  tha 
account  he  gives  of  it  differs  but  a  very  few  miles  from  the  truth,  according  to  our  modern  maps, 
however  incorreftin  his  other  dlmenfions  deduced  from  the  random  guefies  of  the  inhabitants),  and 
had  been  apprized  of  its  having  tin  in  its  interior  parts  as  above  mentiond  ;  yet  he  takes  no  parti- 
cular notice  of  thofe  iflands  which  had  long  fuppHed  the  world  therewith. — And  tho'  Strabof  who 
wrote  70  years  after  Co'Jar's  invafion,  in  his  account  of  the  bearing  and  fituation  of  the  Capiteridei 
from  Gades,  plainly  direfts  us,  towards  thfe  Land's  End  in  Cornwall,  and  the  iflands  fituate  near  it; 
and  the  number  of  the  principal  ones  (of  which,  he  tells  us,  all  but  one  were  inhabited)  were  not 
unknown  to  him  (3)  j  yet  he  appears  ignorant  of  their  real  diftance ;  of  wluch  he,  in  his  tliird  book, 

only 

(1)  In  Celticis  aliquot  funt,  quas,  quia  pT'imbo  abundant,  nnoomnes  Csffiteridas  appellant.     Pomp.  Mel.  lib  3.  eap.ii. 

(2)  CaiGterides  ditla:  a  Giaecis  a  feitiiitate  plumbi.  Pliii.  lib.  4.  cap.  22.  "  lUnni  fcil.  quod'plunibi  fpecies  liahebatur. ' 
Hill.  Comment.  Dionyf.  p.  222.  ed.  1679. 

(3)  He  reckons  ten  of  them  lying  ilofe  together:  At  OS  KxT%Tt^t^es  Ssxae  fMV  liai,  XSi^TiXl  S'  ly/is 
aXKri'f.uiv ,  ■u^os  a^xTcv  awo  ra  riijv^  A^roi(j^-j)v  KnA.iv®^  trsXxyiae.t.  /aihc  S'  aivrwr  e^/xoj  Efi,  ra.i 
o  xKXxS  OlKHfTiv  Oli'jauillOl  •vffc'tyOJ,  &c.  Strab.  lib.  3.  prope  fi.".em.— -Caflitcrides  infula:  decern  funt  noinero,  vicina; 
inviceiii,  ab  Artabrorum  ponii  verfus  fcptcntrioncm  in  alto  iit.T  inai-i.  XJnacarum  defertacft,  reliquasab  lioininibus  incoliintur, 
&c.  Irtcrp.  Xylandr.  And  Camden,  who  doubts  not  but  that  thefe  Caifiieridei  «cre  ttiofe  new  call'd  the  Scilly  lilunds,  otiferves, 
that  there  arc  really  but  ten  of  them  of  any  note,  viz.  St.  Mary's,  Anrveth,  Agres,  Sampfon,  Silly,  Brcfer,  Rufco  or  Trcfcawi 
St.  Helen's,  St.  Martin's,  and  Arthur.  Indeed  he  reckons  145  ifiands  that  go  by  the  nai«e  of  Scilly  IHands,  '  cill  clothed  with 
grafs,  and  covered  with  grcenitb  mofs ;  bcfirtes  many  hideous  rocks  and  great  flones  above  water."  But,  as  he  had  before 
intimated,  tWs  number  (tho'  it  exceeds  that  of  ten,  as  reckon'd  by  Eullathius  and  itrabo,  by  above  ten  times  as  raanyj  affords 
no  good  argument  againft  their  being  the  fame  with  the  Caflitcndcs  of  the  ancients;  fmce  the  fame  wouid  hold  equally  good 
againlt  the  numbers  of  the  Hacbudes  and  Orcadcs  as  reckon'ii  by  Ptolemy.  '  The  truth  on't  is  (fays  he),  the  ancient  v.riter.5 
knew  nothing  certain  of  tbefe  remote  parts  and  iflands;  no  more  ihsui  we  of  the  iflaiuU  jn  tire  Slieighis  of  Magellan,  and 

Vol.  j.  S  a  tlfe 


i40  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

In  what  manner  the  commodities  I  have  noticed,  were  conveyed  from  one  diftrift,  or 
ij-om  one  country  to  anotlier,  we  may  have  carnally  obferved  ;    But  it  is  a  point,  worthy 

a  diilinft 

jorAy  fay»,  they  were  to  the  northward  of  G^idei,  but  out  iii  the  high  fpas,  and  here  feems  to  have 
jfuppos'd  them  fomewhere  off  that  coaft  of  Old  Spain  which  was  then  poflefs'd  by  the  Anabri  and 
Cdt'u-i  l^eni  in  the  northern  part  of  the  ancient  Lufnaria,  near  tlie  promontory  of  Neriutn,  now 
call'd  Cape-Fhnfiene :  But  elfewhere  {lib.  2.)  he  had  direded  us  to  a  much  more  northerly  fitu- 
ation  of  them.(i)  Meia  alfo,  -who  wrote  about  20  years  after  Strabo,  when  the  Emperor  Claudiut 
had  juft  made  his  expedition  into  Bntjin,  and  was  aoout  to  triumph  for  his  fuccefs  there, — declines 
giving  any  defcription  ct  a  country  (o  little  known  to  the  Remans  as  Britain  then  was ;  but  only  ex- 
prelTes  his  expeftation  of  its  being  focn  more  certainly  known,  fmce  the  Emperor  had,  by  his  cbn- 
qnel^  of  people  belore  untamed,  and  of  fome  'till  then  unknown,  open'd  a  way  to  further  difcove- 
ries  of  what  it  wa?,  and  what  it  might  produce. (2) — Yet  it  was  not  'till  40  years  after  this,  when 
A^ric-Ja's  fleer  fa.l'd  round  it,  that  the  Remans  certainly  knew  it  to  be  an  ifland.  After  the  coali- 
tion of  the  Phcericiaii  of  Gades  with  their  brethren  the  Carthagirians,  that  powerful  nation  in  con- 
junftion  with  them,  muft  Lave  continued  to  carry  on  the  tin-trade  with  the  Danmcnii ;  ftill  carefully 
concealing  it  from  -all  competitors.  Thefe  they  had  taken  every  precaution  to  exclude;  and  having 
long  preferv'd  to  themfelves  the  uninterrupted  and  unrivall'd  enjoyment  of  this  beneficial  branch  of 
their  commerce  under  the  proteflion  of  tlie  Tynans,  would  be  (as  we  are  afTured  they  were)  equally 
attentive  to  it  in  conceit  with  their  new  colleagues  and  no  lefs  powerful  protedors;  who  could  not 
but  efteem  the  continuance  of  this  monopoly  a  moft  important  ob;e<ft  of  their  national  concern.  And 
fo  follicitous  were  they  to  fecuve  it,  that  whtn  the  Roma^ts,  after  they  became  acquainted  with  navi- 
gation (of  which  they  were  wholly  ignorant  'till  engaged  in  the  firil;  Punic  war,  about  260  years 
before  Cirji}),{2)  ^^'^^  o^t  their  doggers  to  watch  and  follow  a  Vkoenician  ftiip,  with  a  view  to  a  dif- 
cover)'  of  the  place  where  they  traded  for  this  valuable  commodity  ;  the  Phcenician  mariner  perceiving 
their  defign,  which  it  behoved  him  by  all  means  tq  difappoini:,  would  voluntarily  run  his  ftiip  on 
fome  (hoal,  to  decoy  the  Rcwans  into  the  like  perilous  fituation ;  which  from  their  as  yet  imperfeft 
flciil  in  navigation  might  prove  fata)  to  :bc'>n,  but  from  which  he  himfelf  well  knew  ho^\  to  difengage 
himfclf  and  his  fliip,  with  fome  prefent  lofs  indeed,  but  little  or  no  danger.  For  that  he  did  not 
jGnk  his  ihip,  and  liimfelf  and  crew  in  it, (4)  as  fome  have  groundlefsly  fuppofed,  is  fufhciently  evi- 
dent j 

the  wl^ole  trafl  o.f  New  C.iuncy.'  See  GiT^r.  Cirtvd.  1 1 12.  e<1.  1695.  where  he  gives  other  reafons  for  fr.ppofing  the  Scilly 
iQandi  to  be  the  C^terides  ;  but  none  inconCftent  with  our  luppofition.-that  the  ftann:iry  tracts  of  CornwaJl  and  Devon  were 
inclddol  with  then  under  the  .fame  denomination.     Chappie. 

(1)  Strabo,  in  tur  2d  book  here  refcrr'd  to,  after  dcfcribing  the  courfe  of  t!ie  navigation  along  the  \vcftern  coal^of  Spain 
to  that  of  the  Artktfi,  and  then  turning  with  an  oUufc  angle  eaftward,  'iili  off  the  Pyrenees;    adjs  as  follows: 

Tovrois  Se  r«  stfujl^ix  rvis  BfsTaciiy.r.s  xyTixiiyTiJct  'Sfoi  aficroy.  (i(/.oixs  os  y.ixt  tois  A^iui:ipoii 
etyitxsurxi  Zj^os  »ficioy,  ut  Kxrlirs^tocs   -/.aXttij-iyxi   yr,j-oi,   zjsXaytxt  xxiia   ro  BfE/asv/Jco*   zsujs 

3lXi{A.x  tScvpLEyXJ.  His  occidua;  Britannia:  partes  oppofitae  funt  verfus  fcptentrionem.  Itemque  Artabris  verfiis  fepten- 
trionem  opponuntur  infula;  Cauiterides,  [.f]uaii  fi  ftannarias  dicas.]  in  pclago,  Sc  Britannico  propemodym  fita;  climate.  (In- 
terp.  Xjlandr  )  i.  e.  Oppofite  to  thefe  towards  the  north,  are  the  weiiern  parts  of  Britain.  Alio  over  againll  the  Arttbri 
t€>  the  north  lie  tbofe  ifloi-ds  which  they  c all Cailitei ides  (Attice  Cattiteridcs),  fituate  out  in  th«  main  fea  very  nearly  in  the 
famealimate  with  Britain. — This  evidently  points  out  to  us  the  Scilly  Iflands,  as  no  other  will  fo  well  anfwer  this  defcrip- 
tion: Ani  tho'  Strabo  might  not  I'uppofe  them  fo  near  that  wcftem  part  of  Britain  which  he  mentions  nor  their  being  fo 
ex£.aiy  in  the  fanx  climate  and  latitude,  as  they  really  are  ;  this  is  Icfs  to  be  wonder'd  at,  than  that,  from  the  intelligence 
he  coidd  then  have  concerninj:  thofe  BritiJh  lfle.=,  he  Cionld  be  enabled  to  give  fo  true  an  account  of  them.     Chappie. 

(2)  Briuannla  qualis  Gt,  quaiefque  progeneret,  mox  cevtiora  &  raagise.vplorata  dicentur.  Ouippe  tamdio  claufam  aperit 
ecce  principum  mixittius;  nee  indcmitanun  niodo  ante  fe,  venim  igT>otatuai  qunque  gentium  victor,  piopriarum  rerum  £dem 
nt  bcllo  nfftftavit,  ita  triumpho  declaraturus  portat."     Pomp.  Iilel.  lib.  3.  cap.  8. 

(j)  Ech.  Rom.  Hid.  b.2.ch.  9. 
■  (4)  If  It  could  be  fo  underflood,  it  had  been  a  more  extraordinary  inftanre  of  patriotic  n-.adnefs  than  that  of  Cuitius  him- 
felf; who  for  the  iuppofod  good  of  his  country  leapt  aloi;e  into  tiie  pit  of  dcflruction,  without  involving  his  flaves  oc  depend- 
ents in  Uie  fimc  perdition.  This  might  be  deemed  heroic  in  a  Roman  knight,  who  might  promife  himfeif  immortal  fame 
a$  the  fancied  reward  of  fo  much  tnerit;  hut  it  would  have  been  condcnmable  as  the  height  of  folly  and  nicft  ridiculous 
knight-crraMr/  in  a  Phocnieian  (hip-mailer,  to  devote  himfelf  and  his  ciew  to  the  devouring  waves  to  prevent  the  difcovery 
of  a  Rate  ferret;  when,  as  none  could  efcape  to  teOify  his  pattiotifm,  it  would  for  ever  remain  doubtful  whether  his  fate 
XfCre  owir>g  to  accident  or  dcGgn,  and  confequcrtly  could  not  infure  him  even  the  empty  applaufe  of  his  countrymen  as  a 

tribirte  to  hn  manes .Coold  a   Di.tth  trader  to  Anil>r.yna  be  prevail'd  on  by  the  waimth  of  his  pattiotifm  to  hazard,  his 

owr.  hfe  at  leail,  by  a  voluntary  (fiip-.vrcck,  to  fccure  the  monopoly  of  the  fpice-lrade?  If  not,  we  have  as  little  reafon  to 
fiippofe  the  monoTwlizets  of  tin  won.4  take  any  fuch  defptrate  methods  to  guard  ag.vinft  an'J  preclude  interlopers  from  hav- 
ing any  fljare  in  i:.  Fw  the  difpolitions  of  the  modern  Dutch  and  the  ancient  Phoinicians  icem  extremely  Gmilar,  in  refpeS 
to  trade  and  commerce  and  the  means  of  fecuring  it ;  and  tho'  neither  might  much  fcruple,  on  urgent  occafions,  to  offer 
human  facrifice«  10  flutus  yet  to  make  themfelves  the  victims,  merely  fo  promote  the  advantage  of  others,  and  in  total 
c.xf  lu/ion  of  tlieir  own,  ivoitld  be  quitcout  of  (haraScr.  Avarice  and  fcllilhnefs  are  inconfiiient  with  public  fpirit ;  and  tho* 
thcf  ^na^•  accidentally  ooDtiibiitc  to  promote  the  public  welfare,  this  fcldom  or  never  happens  but  when  they  are  ftimulated 
to  it  by  interefled  views.  We  have  heard  indeed  of  a  mifer  who  died  to  fave  Charges;  but  this  was  to  ptefer\-e  his  o*-n 
fcoarJ  undiujinJh'd,  twt  toinctcafc  the  tichss  of  the  community.     Chappie. 


The     BRITISH     PTiRIOD.  141 

a<hftmft  examination.  We  have  already  feen,  that  the  ancient  Britons  were  not  unac- 
iquainted  with  ths  moft  perfeft  method  of  land-carriage  yet  difcovei-ed,  long  before  they 

were 

dent ;  fince  Strjbo,  from  w!iom  we  have  riiis  account,  immediattly  adds,  that  "  preferving  himfelf 
from  fhipwreck,  he  was  after  vards  compenfated  out  of  the  public  treafury  for  the  lofs  of  his 
cargo(i)."  Hence  we  learn  that  the  cuftom  of  the  Pkccinciam  in  fuch  cafes  was,  to  run  tlieir  fliip 
aground  in  fome  fliailow  place,  with  whicli  and  its  foundings  they  were  previoufly  acquainted,  and 
c-ould  guard  againft  its  danger  5  and  from  which,  after  having  dra-  n  their  competitors  into  the  fnare, 
fuch  expert  navigators  knew  hov^  to  get  free,  by  throwing  overboard  a  fufficient  quantity  of  the 
lading  to  lighten  the  fliipi  and  getting  her  afloat,  to  return  with  fafety  home;  where  they  were  fure 
to  receis'e  an  adequate  compenfation,  for  the  lofs  they  had  fuftain'd  by  facrificing  the  profits  of  fuch 
an  interrupted  voyage  to  the  fecurity  cf  the  trade.  But  notwithftanding  thefe  precautions,  the  fame 
author  afTures  us,  the  Romans,  by  frequent  attempts  of  the  lik^  kind,  at  length  difcovered  the  fitua- 
tion  of  the  CaffiterUa  ;  and  havirg  found  their  way  to  them,  Pukliui  Craffus  afterwards  came  with  the 
•difcoverers,  and  made  obfervations  on  the  tin  mines  1-K:re  (then  of  no  great  depth)  and  the  difpofition 
of  the  people  to  peace;  their  attention  to  navigation  as  their  leifure  permitted,  and  their  readinefs  to 
.give  diredlions  to  all  a  ho  were  inclinable  to  make  this  voyage(z).  Who  this  P.  CraJJ'us  v^^as,  whether 
fome  mariner  oi  Gallia  Narhoner.fis^  or  of  what  other  parts  of  tiie  Empire,  and  at  what  time  he  made 
this  expedition  hither  in  quefl:  of  our  tin,  we  are  not  inform'd.  All  we  can  with  certainty  affirm  is, 
that  it  muft  have  been  after  the  finl  Pr/K/f  war;  'till  which  time  the  Koman%  traded  in  foreign  bot- 
toms, having  no  fhips  of  their  own,  and  being  'till  then  (as  has  been  already  obferv'd)  wholly  un- 
iktU'd  in  navigation  :  And  if  Crajj'ui  u'as  of  Gaul^  as  it  feems  mofl  probable  he  was,  this  difcovery 
and  examination  of  our  mines  by  him  and  his  co-adventurers,  cant  be  fuppos'd  to  have  been  till  after 
the  third  Tunic  war  and  the  deilru(flion  of  Old  Carthage  (in  anno  ante  Chr.  144)  j  perhaps  not  'till 
the  conchifion  of  the  Alkkroglc  war  near  30  years  after,  viz,  in  the  year  before  Chrift  116,  when 
Nirbonne  Gaul  was  reduced  to  a  R'urian  province(3).  And  even  this,  was  rather  before  than  after 
any  Greeks  had  failed  to  Brkawy  if  B'.chart  miflakes  not,  m  f^ppofmg  their  firft  voyage  to  this  ifland 
to  have  been  in  the  time  of  P/c/cwy  Lathyrus  King  01  A^gyptj  who  begun  his  reign  (of  36  years) 
i)ut  the  year  after  the  commencement  of  the  lai^-mentioned  war,  -l/x.  an.  ante  Chr.  117,(4)  in 
which,  or  the  following  year,  the  ^!l(ibroges{^)  (who  had  invaded  thsir  Majiliar.  neighbours  then 
in  alliance  with  the /Ja.vM^ii)  were  totally  fubdued  by  Fabius  Maximus.  Camden  howewtr,  {6)  lup- 
pofes  the  Greeks  had  vifrted  Britain  near  100  years  before  this,  -vix.  in  the  i6cth  year  before  Ccefar^% 
invafion,  that  is,  in  the  year  before  Chrift  215;  and  others  have  brought  them  hither  flJI  earlier. 
But  perhaps  he  time  refeiT'd  to  by  Bochart  was  when  they  made  the  nrrt  tracing  voyage  to  this  ifland 
for  tin:  And  tb'n.,  indeed,  we  can  hardly  fuppofe  to  have  been  much  earlier,  for,  had  any  Greeks 
been  acquainted  with  our  Cajfttrld-s,  and  commenced  any  trade  to  them,  at  any  time  during  the 
^preceding  century,  it  could  not  have  been  long  concealed  from  the  Remans,  when  they  had  once  per- 
fedVed  themfelves  in  navigation  ;  to  wiiich  they  diligently  applied  theinfeWes  after  the  firft  Punic  war, 
5nd  quickly  improved  os)  what  they  had  learnt  cf  naval  architedure  from  the  coiiftrudrion  of  fome 
loft  Phanician  vclfils  accidentally  driven  aflicre :  After  which,  to  what  pnrpofe  would  be  the  above 
mention  d  precauti.^iis  oi  i\\e  FLaer.icians,  to  conceal  from  the  Romar.s  uhat  (on  the  above  fuppofi- 
tio«)  was  no  longer  a  Cecret  to  the  Greeks,  nor  could  long  be  fo  to  any  maritime  people.  That  the 
Greeks  realty  traded  with  the  Britons  fome  time  before  fulius  Ciefar,  no-cne  doubts  :  But  hoiv  long 
before  his  invafion,  and  at  whit  time  theii'  knowledge  of,  and  trade  to  this  ifland  commenced,  and 
for  what  commodities  they  firft  traded  here,  whether  for  ti'i  or  what  elfe, — tlie  difagreemtnt  of 
authors  concerning  them  has  left  very  uncertain  ;  and  among  a  variety  of  opinions  on  thefe  fubjedts, 
we  can  only  judge,  from  fele<Sing  and  comparing  fuch  authentic  teftimonies  as  feem  corroborated 
by  collateraJ  circumftances,  which  to  prefer. — Dr.  Borl.ife  {-j),  fioin  Herodotus  znd  ylnjictle,  fuppofes 
that  the  firft  paifage  th^-Greeks  made  into  theWeilern  or  Atlantic  ocean,  was  550  years  before  Chrift, 
when  '  the  people  of  Samos  fending  a  colony  into  Egyt>t,  were  driven  by  the  winds  down  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  quite  through  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar'  ;  about  which  Straits,  he  thinks,  '  they  ftuck 
and  fettled  for  fome  ages,  without  making  further  progrefs' :  And  that  they  ventur'd  not  into  the 
nonhern  fe;i6,  xWlPytheas^  an  aftronomer  oi Ma'fei'les  about  the  time  oi  Alexander  the  Great,  under- 
tikittg  a  northern  voyage,  is  faid  to  haVe  f  il'd  as  far  as  the  \r£ric  circle,  where  there  is  no  night  at 
the  fummer  fohlice  :  A  circumltance  whicii,  to  the  unaftronoiiiic  Greeks,  muft  have  feem'd  not  lefs 
wonderful  (tho'  indeed  more  true)  tlian  many  odier  ftran^e  things  he  pretended  to  have  feen  in  thofe 

parts 

(1)  Straho's  worcU  are,   ■     .       avToS ,    ZT'i^'n   ^lat   yOtvatyie,    y.xt    a.ZJc^Xj^s    Or.y.ovi'xv    T»'i/    TijXTiV    d>^ 

-flPratXatpe  ^^Timv.    which  Xylander  thus  renders : Ipfe  e  naurragio  fcrvatus  ex  acrario  publico  prctiuin  amiffirum 

BKrcium  tecei>it.     lib  3.  prope  fincm. 

(a)  Strabo  ubi  fupra.  (3)  Ech.  Rom.  IliB.  b.  2.  c.  13.  (4)  Prid.  Coanecl.  Part  2.  b.  5. 

(5)  Tlw  Allobro^es  were  a  people  who  d.velt  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  to  the  fouchward  of  the  lake  of  Geneva,  in  and 
•about  the  countries  now  call'd  Dauphinc,  Savoy,  and  Piedmont.      Chappie. 

(6J  Oa  the  nao*  of  Btitain,  p.  xxxi.  Gibf.  edit.  1695.  (7)  Aaticj.  of  Cornw.  p.  32  and  33. 


142  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of   DEVONSHIRE. 

Kere  invaded  by  thj  Romaics ;  llnce  the  Danmonians,  after  they  had  refined  theii*  tin, 
aaid  call  it  into  Ibuare  blocks,  cairied  it  to  Idis  in  carts  or  nvaggoiis. 

As 

pans  in  his  hlftory  of  thule ;  for  I  take  him  to  be  the  fame  Pytteas,  whom  Strabn,  more  than  once 
rtignv.tizes  as  a  propagator  of  known  falrtioods.  (i)  Incited  by  bis  fuccefs,  and  conduced  by  kh 
obfervations,  the  Doftor  tells  us,  the  Greeks  were  afterwards  bold  enough  to  attempt  frequent  voya- 
ges of  tliis  kind  :  On  which  he  remarks,  '  It  is  very  rtrange  therefore,  if  true,  that  the  Greeks,  who 
made  a  voyage  thro"  the  Straits  as  anciently  as  ^'exanJer's  time,  fliould  not  fail  to  Britain  before  the 
times  above-mention  d  to  be  fix'd  for  it  by  Borbart;  in  which  '  if  he  is  right'  it  'will  (hew  how 
fecrei  the  Pheenieians  kept  this  trade' — meaning,  I  prefume,  the  fi;:-trade  :  For  the  Doftor  feems' 
to  take  for  granted,  that  the  Greeks  could  have  made  no  voyage  to  Britain,  noi-  had  any  intercourfe 
with  its  inhabicai;ts,  for  any  other  purpofe.  But  furely  they  might  very  early  have  liad  fome  know- 
ledge of  the  fituatlon  of  this  detach'd  part  oi  Europe,  from  Pytheas's  accounts  of  it  or  otherwife,  and 
might  difcover,  and  even  trade  to,  fome  of  the  Bririjh  ports  (perhaps  for  (kins,  which  was  one  arti- 
cle of  the  Phoenician  traffick  here),  without  knowing  where  the  Cajfiterides  were  f;tuated,  or  at  what 
diftance  from  Britain,  or  even  fufpefting  them  to  be  parts  of,  or  appendages  to  it :  Thefe  particulars 
being  fo  carefully  conceal'd  by  the  Pba-nicieiKs,  that  the  Itannary  regions  to  which  they  traded,  were 
antiently  fuppofed,  by  all  others,  to  be  in  fome  unknown  and  very  diftant  part  of  that  wide  ocean 
which  bounded  the  weftern  extremities  of  Eurrpe  (2)  Wherefore,  although  we  fhould  admit  the 
northern  vovage  of  Pytbeas  to  be  in  Alexander' %  time,  and  that  fome  Greeks  oi  Majjir:a  (now  Mar- 
feiUes),  for  fuch  it  feems  they  were,  encouraged  by  his  example  might  foon  after  make  the  like  at- 
tempts, and  find  their  way  to  fome  port  or  ports  on  the  Britijh  coafts ;  yet  we  cannot  from  thence 
conclude,  that  they  fo  early  difcover'd  from  whence  tlic  Pbteniclans  had  their  tin.  Mr.  Carte,  in- 
d£ed,(3j  takes  for  granted,  that  their  hopes  of  a  (hare  with  the  Pbcenicians  in  this  trade,  was  the 
motive  that  induced  them  to  fend  their  citizen,  Pyrheas,  to  explore  thefe  northern  coafts  :  as  if  any 
Greeks  ( whether -P^i'"-"''"  colonifts  at  MpJf.Iia,  or  any  other  Grcciar  traders)  had  at  that  time  certainly 
fenown  that  their  tin  came  from  Britain :  Which,  tho'  he  fuppofes  this  voyage  to  the  north,  and  the 
dUcovery  of  Tbule,  to  have  been  not  above  250  years  before  Chriji,  above  70  years  after  the  death 
of  Alexander,  there  fee.ns  no  good  reafon  to  believe  they  were  afiTured  of,  or  in  what  parts  the  tin- 
mines  were,  'ti.!  about  thi  time  the  Roxans  difcover'd  the  navigation  to  them  ;  which  was  probably 
above  100  years  after  the  time  he  fixes  for  this  Majji'ian  enterprize.  For  would  the  Pbterricians  have 
madly  expofed  them.elvts  •  to  t"he  extremtit  dangers,  and  all  the  horrors  of  (hipwreck,'  as  Mr.  Cartt 
acknowledges  they  did,  to  ftcretc  from  the  R:ff:ans  what  they  could  not  but  know  the  Greeks  had, 
on  his  fup=2o(ition,  difcover'd  before  ?  Befides,  it  is  improbable  that  the  Ma£:!:ans,  who  conftantly 
c  Itivated  a  firm  frieiidthip  and  alliance  with  the  Romans,  (4)  had  they  difcovered  the  (ituation  of 
thefe  mines  from  whence  the  CaetbagiKlans  derived  fo  valuable  a  branch  of  their  commerce,  would 

or 

(1)  Strabo  (lib.  2.)  inform?  u.=,  that  this  Pytlieas,  tho'  he  had  traveifed  but  a  part  of  Britain,  pretended  accurately  to 
compare  its  diinenfions  and  extent  with  thofe  of  Thule ; — rcprefcntcd  thefe  nort'.iern  parts  as  having  neither  land,  nor  fca. 
Dor  air  ;  but  fome  fpongy  matter  like  pulmo  marinus,  in  which  the  earth  and  fea,  and  all  hang  fufpendcd  :  That  this  matter 
is  OS  it  were  the  bond  of  the  univerfe;   inacceflible  to  travellers  or  failors; — with  other  particulars  equally  ftrange  and  in- 

crcd;bk. BiU  perhaps  much  of  the  feeming  abfurdity  of  thefe  wonderful  tales,  may  be  charged  on  the  then  ignorance 

or  mifapprchenfion  of  his  readers;  wlio  would  be  not  a  little  ftartled  at  his  reprcfenting  the  night  as  being,  in  the  moft 
northcriy  climate  he  vilited,  turn'd  into  day  by  an  unfetting  fun  :  The  tnow-to^t  mountain^  hiding  their  heads  in  the  clouds ; 
from  whence  the  defluxions  down  their  (ides,  alternately  flowing,  and  again  congeal'd  into  the  like  glaffy  fubftancc  of  which 
the  ancients  imagin'd  the  heavens  thcmfelves  were  compofed  ;  and  which,  with  the  multangular  rocks  and  ifland-;  of  ice 
furmounting  the  fwelling  wave^  of  the  furrounding  feas,  varioufly  redefling  and  rcfracling  the  folar  rays,  would  from  feme 
diOant  points  of  view,  exhibit  the  appearance  of  gilded  clouds  here  and  tliere  interfpers'd  with  the  ccerulean  brightnefs  of 
the  firaiament  itfelf ;  And  ;l)is  feeming  conjunction  of  heaven  and  earth  and  fea,  with  the  intermediate  air  frequently  till'd 
with  floating  feathers  of  falling  fnows,  if  fomewhat  poetically  dcfcribed,  or  in  that  enigmatical  ftyle,  by  which  the  ancient 
Creeks  u-ere  fond  of  difguifiiig  the  moft  important  truths  in  the  garb  of  ficlion  and  romance. — would  induce  the  generality 
of  his  readers,  wire  kncv/  nothing  of  the  cfiecls  of  a  northern  perennial  winter,  to  imagine  he  had  confounded  heaven  and 
earth,  air  and  water,  and  in  ftiort  turn'd  the  world  topfy-turvy  ;  And  then,  no  wonder  if  fome  men  of  good  fenfe  and  found 
judgijietit,  bit  unlkiird  in  cofinogrjiphv,  (liould  cenfure  his  accounts  of  thefe  inhofpitablc  regions,  as  replete  with  incredible 
ftorics  and  iiul,,al)lc  falfl.oods.  For  the  bcfl  writers,  in  iho.'c  early  times,  knew  fo  little  of  natural  philofophy,  geography, 
or  aftronomv,  as  to  have  but  very  imperfe£l  notions  of  the  apparent  courfe  of  the  fun,  as  feen  from  different  parts  of  the 
globe  ;  or  how  and  from  what  caufcs  the  different  degrees  of  his  heat,  or  the  contrary  effcils  of  cold,  in  different  climates, 
were  vaiioody  modified.  Hen'C  Herodotus  feems  to  have  uiider.'lood  literally,  and  of  courfe  dilbcliev'd,  what  fome  had 
affirm'd  of  a  people  co\cr'd  with  feathers  that  every  where  furroundcd  them,  and  fiU'd  the  air  about  them.  And  the  fame 
Herodotus  ridicules  tlie  report  of  the  Pliocnician  navigators  (which  however  was  certainly  true),  that  when  (about  ann.  ante 
CI:r.  603;  tliey  firft  doubled  the  moft  foutherly  Cape  of  Africa  {\\r..  of  Good  Hope),  they  had  fun-rifing  at  their  right-hand 
when  facing  the  fun's  place  at  noon  ;  whii.h  being  contrary  to  conftant  obfen'atioo  in  northern  latitudes,  thofe  failors,  who 
hid  never  before  bicn  fouth  of  the  a-.iuator,  coulJ  not  but  imagine  that  he  rofe  in  the  weft  and  fat  in  the  eall.  Nay  Strabo 
hini.'elf,  whofe  judgment  and  (kill  in  geography  is  in  general  unqueftionable,  and  who  muft  be  allow'd  to  have  cxcell'd  all 
that  preceded  him  in  that  branch  of  fcience,  abfolutcly  denies  the  truth  of  their  tcftimony  concerning  fo  ftrange  a  pfiarno> 
menon,  as  he  miCakcnIy  toi'k  it  to  be:  And  to  the  like  hafty  and  erroneous  judgment  in  fuch  matters,  his  cenfure&of 
Pyiheai  may  very  probably  be,  at  lead  partly,  afcribed.     Chappie. 

(j;  luWjatJSiolT.UJa.  (3;  HiO.  of  Eivglacd,  vol.  i .  p  38.  (4)  Vide  Polyb.lib.3,  and  Strabo,  lib.  4. 


The     BRITISH    PERIOD.  14* 

Af  to  their  fliips,  the  Britons  are  commonly  reprefented  as  uling  vefiels  or  boats,  made  ot' 
the  flexible  branches  of  trees,  interwoven  as  clolely  as  poflihle,  angl  lined  with  hides.  An'd, 
according  to  Pliny,  Tima;us  defcribed  thole  boats  of  the  Britofrs  (in  a  hillory  which  is 
now  loft)  as  a  kind  of  wattle -work,  covered  with  ikins  -.  Nor  are  thofe  boats  unnoticed 
by  Cacfar,  and  other  ancient  writers.  That  the  Danmonians  were  in  pofiefTiOh  of  velfels  of 
tiiis  delcripticn,  I  entertain  not  a  doubt.  The  conllrudVion  of  theie  boats  was  oriental. 
And  "  a  kind  of  boats,  formed  of  (lender  rods  joined  together  in  the  manner  of  hur- 
dles and  covered  with  ikins,"'  are  ftill  uled  on  the  Red  iea..(a)  That  the  Danmoniansi 
however,  wereuuacquainted  with  il'.j  ufe  of  larger  velVels,  before  Cxfar,  is  a  po<it2on  to" 
which  I  can  never  altent.  Tl'.eir  voyage  from  the  eaft  to  this  country,  could  Icarccly 
have  been  performed  in  vefTels  of  ib  llight  a  conllruclion  as  thofe  alreadj'  defcribed.  (6) 

JBut, 

or  could  ha%'e  conceal'd  it  from  thofe  whom  they  juftjy  eileem'd  their  beft  friends  and  moft  power- 
ful proteftors  ;  and  to  v/hom  they  on  all  occafions  readily  gave  all  the  a(Ti</lance  in  their  power  in 
their  wars  with  the  Cartbaginlans  and  others. — Now  the  Rofr:jrSf  as  we  have  feen,  had  never  plough'd 
the  ocean  till  after  the  firft  Punk  war ;  and  confequently  could  not  excite  the  jealoufy  of  the  Pbte- 
r.ic'un  tin-merchants  by  attempting  a  difrover)'  of  this  kind,  or  induce  them  to  hazard  the  fafety  of 
their  Ihips  and  the  lives  of  their  failors ;  the  more  effe<3:ually  to  guard  againfl  it,  'till  an,  ant^  Chr, 
^40  at  foonert  :  When,  being  more  foilicitous  to  cope  with  the  Canbagir.'.an  power  at  fea  by  a  nume- 
rous fieet,  than  attentive  to  the  conftruction  of  trading  veiFels,  it  is  not  at  all  likely  they  would  at- 
tempt any-thing  of  this  nature,  till  the  conclulien  of  the  fecond  P-jt:':c  war  had  put  them  in  pcirelTion 
of  Sfain  and  the  Iflands  in  the  Midhcrranean.  And  even  then,  the  revolt  of  the  Gjuh,  and  tlie  con- 
tinuance of  the  tirft  Macedonian  war  'till  an.  ante  Cbr,  194;  with  the  very  (hpn  interval  between 
that  and  the  fecond  ;  and  the  like  between  this  and  the  third  Punk  war ;  and  thofe  intervals  more- 
over employ'd  in  other  wars  cf  lefs  note,  i-lz.  with  the  Ligurians,  Span-ards,  Ccrjicjr.s,  and  others  j 
muft  have  too  much  engrofs'd  the  attention  of  the  fenate  and  the  confuls,  to  admit  of  their  advert- 
ence to  commercial  concerns.  During  thcfe  tranfaclions,  the  Reman  ftate,  now  growing  up  to  the 
height  of  its  glory  and  greatnefs,  chiefly  foUicitous  to  have  brave  and  well-regulated  armies,  and  pay- 
ing little  or  no  regard  to  mercantile  concerns,  very  little  encouragement  of  even  their  domeflic  traffic 
could  in  fuch  times  be  expected;  much  lefs  the  commencement  of  a  foreign  trade  to  a  diflant  and 
undifcover'd  country.  That  great  body  was  as  yet  unanimated  by  the  fpirit  of  commerce.  To 
check  and  reflrain  troublefome  neighbours,  and  at  length  command  and  proted  them  ;  to  humble 
the  pride,  and  weaken  the  ftrength  of  dangerous  rivals  ;  to  dethrone  kings,  and  difpofe  of  kingdoms, 
as  beft  fuited  their  own  political  or  interested  views ;  to  fubdue,  and  to  polifli,  the  moft  fava^e  and 
barbarous  nations  ;  to  enlarge  the  boundaries  and  advance  the  grandeur  of  the  empire;  and  to  fill 
the  public  treafury,  and  enrich  individuals  with  the  plunder  of  captur'd  cities  and  conquer'd  pro- 
vinces;— were  the  principal  objedts  of  their  care  and  concern.  Not  that  they  were  Simulated  to 
great  aftions  by  a  greedinefs  of  gain,  but  by  a  thirft  after  gloiy  and  honour  :  And  though  not  -gno- 
rant  that  riches  and  power  are  mutual'y  productive  of  each  other,  their  aim  was  not  fo  much  an 
accumulation  of  wedth,  as  an  extenfion  of  their  power  and  dominion.  Such  immenfe  riches  as 
their  rival  flate  had  derived  from  its  extenfive  trade  and  commerce,  and  which  rendered  it  fo  power- 
ful as  to  difpute  with  the  Rcmam  themfelves  for  the  empire  of  the  world,  was  to  tbem  merely  adven- 
titious; as  being  not  the  objeft  they  had  in  view,  but  accidentally  refulting  from  that  power  and 
au:hority,  which  they  had  previoufly  obtained."  ChafpWi  General  Defcrlpt.  of  Den;on,  p.  106  to  114. 
(a)  See  Harmer's  Obfervations  on  the  Bible. 

{h)  "  The  poet  Dionyfius,  having  defcribed  all  the  nations  of  the  known  world,  concludes  with  the 
Indo-Scvth.s  ;  of  whom  he  gives  a  more  ample,  and  a  more  particular  account,  than  of  any,  who 
have  preceded.  He  dwells  long  upon  their  habits  and  "manners  ;  their  rites  and  cuftoms  ;  their 
mercbandixe,  induflry,  and  knowledge :  and  has  tranfmitted  feme  excellent  fpecimens  of  their  an- 
cient biftory. 

I>so»  7TX~  iTOTxu.ov  'Sonot  'E.y.vOxt  ti),xiac-iy,    &C.  ScC. 

Dion.  Perieg.  v.  loSS. 

Upon  the  banks  of  the  great  river  Ind 

The  Southern  Scutba  dwell ;  which  river  pays 

Its  wat'ry  tribute  to  that  mighty  fea 

Stiled  Erythrean.     Far  remov'd  its  fource. 

Amid  the  ftormy  cliffs  of  Caucafus  : 

Defcending  hence  through  many  a  winding  vale, 

It  feparates  vaft  nations.     To  the  weft 

Th'  OritK  live  and  Aribes :   and  then 

Tlie  Ara-cotii  fam'd  for  linen  geer,  &c.  Sec, 
To  'num'rate  all,  who  rove  this  wide  domain 

Surpaffes  human  pcw'r;  the  Gods  can  lelJ, 

The 


144  kISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

But  (to  drop  this  idea)  their  connexion  with  tlie  Phenicians  for  many  fuccefTive  agesF 
before  Ca^liir,  muft  render  the  above  pofition  at  lead  improbable.  The  Phenicians,  I 
need  not  repeat,  were,  of  all  the  ancient  nations,  the  moll  fkilful  navigators  :  They  were 
famed  both  for  the  ilrufture  and  for  the  management  of  their  vefl'els.  (a)  Is  it  at  all 
likely,  therefore,  that  the  Danmonians,  l"o  long  converfant  with  the  Phenicians,  fliould 
have  indolently  relied  in  tlieir  little  olier  boats,  whilft  tlie  lofty  fliips  of  the  Phenicians 
^vere  continually  at  anchor  in  their  harbours  ?  Is  it  polTible,  that  they  fliould  have  acqui- 
efced  from  generation  to  generation,  in  a  rude  fifliiag  veflel,  when  they  might  have  af- 
cended,  whenever  they  pleafed,  the  Phenician  flitp,  and  have  thoroughly  examined  its 
conllriiftion  ?  Can  we  conceive,  that,  expofed  as  the  Danmonians  were,  in  their  frail 
barks,  to  the  dangers  of  the  lea,  they  could  have  been  lati?fied  with  fuch  vehicles,  even 
if  none  of  a  better  conftruftion  had  been  ever  prefented  to  their  obfervation  ?  Gratified, 
however,  as  they  were,  with  a  full  view  of  Ihips,  both  I'afe  and  com-r.odious-,  do  we  ima- 
gine them  lb  lenlelefs  as  to  flare  only,  with  ftupid  wonder,  at  thofe  Ihips  ?  Had  they 
wondered,  their  wonder  would  foon  ceafe  :  Alloniflmient  is  a  tranfitory  pafiion  :  It  does 
not  lall  for  ages.  When  the  novelty,  therefore,  of  the  objeft  was  over,  would  not  the 
Danmonians  naturally  begin  to  confider  thePhenkian  Hups  as  excellent  models  for  imita- 
tion '  And  would  they  not  proceed  to  conftruft  veffels  for  therafclves,  after  thele  models  » 

Tha* 

The  Gods  alone  ;  for  nothing's  hid  from  Heaven, 
Let  it  fuffice,  if  I  their  worth  declare. 
Thcfe  were  the  firft  great  founders  in  the  world, 
Founders  of  cities  and  of  mighty  ftates : 
JVvo  jh^-,v^d  a  path  tbrwgh  Jeas^  before  unknown  : 
And  when  doubt  reign'd  and  dark  uncertainty. 
Who  rendered  life  more  certain.     'J'hey  firft  view'd 
The  ftariy  lights,  and  f-rniA  then:  h-Jo  fJjeines. 
In  the  firft  ages,  when  the  fons  of  men 
Knew  not  which  way  to  turn  them,  they  aflign'd* 
To  each  his  juft  department :  they  beftow'd 
Of  hncf  a  portion  and  of  fea  a  lot ; 
And  fent  each  wand'ring  tribe  far  off,  to  fhare 
A  diffrent  foil  and  climate.     Hence  arol'e 
The  great  diverfity,  fo  p'ainly  feen 
Mid  nations  widely  fevered. 
Such  is  the  charafler  given  by  the  poet  Dionyfius  of  the  Indian  Scuthae,  under  their  vnriou-j  deno- 
minations.    They  were  fometimes  called  Fh/n:lces .-  and  thofe  of  that  name  in  Syria  were  of  Cuthite 
extra(n^ion.     In  confequence  of  this,  the  poet  in  fpeaking  of  fliem,  gives  the  fa'ne  precife  charaftejv, 
as  he  has  exhibited  above,  and  fpecifies  plainly  their  original. 

'Oi  'S^  sl'aos  i'/yvs  EiyTSf,   sTTuvi/j.iyiv  ^oivr/.es. 
Upon  the  Syrian  fea  the  people  live 
Who  ftile  tliemfelvcs  FLcetikians.     Th^fe  are  fprung 
From  the  true  ancient  Erythrean  ftock ; 
From  that  /age  race,  luho  fiiji  cjj'ay'd  the  deefj 
And  luafted  mer<:ha!idixe  ts  coajls  unktioivn. 
Thefe  too  d'lgcjled  fr]l  the  Jiavry  cho'.r  ; 

Their  motions  mark'd  and  ca'l'd  tLeni  by  their  names.' — Col.  Vallancey. 
(a)  According  to  Sammes,  the  Phenicians  had  built  great  fliips  in  the  time  of  Solomon,  and  were 
accuftomed  to  long  and  tedious  voyages.  "  Now  it  is  (fays  this  ri-uthor)  that  we  hear  o(  Danausy 
and  his  great  fliip  Penteanteros,  or  fifty  oars,  in  which  he  arrived  out  of  JEgypt  into  Greeie,  wliich 
voyage  may  be  gathered  out  of  an  Infcription  upon  an  old  marble,  part  of  which  ly  time  is  worn 
out.     It  is  thus. 

'A^S   vau    .  .  .  .  ^ oiv  eI  ""Aiyvifla  .  .    iS   rr,v  'E.'/J.a.<jx 

tvK'-jvae  Y.Xi  £iyo/jt«(7'v*)  77£Vf>9X.oyr£5>©^  itsti  an  Axvoca  iivyxre^es 
.  .  .  w»«  y.ai  ....  (Sat  ....  a  ff<'&.'  xat  'EX/xij  kxi  A^-)fdiyrii 

a.'noy.'Airipuijiivoi.t  XoiTTxv «vT  .  .  .  y.xt 

l^vaut  of  I  Tr,s  cix}r,s  1(jltoc^x  .  .  ot  r-ns   Pooiscs  irv 

XHHAAAAnil. 

By  the  learned  Selden  rendered  to  this  fence. 

Since  the  Ship ....  came  from  y'ligypt  ;»/&  Greece,  and  ivas  called  Penteconteros,  and  the  Daughtcrt 

^Danaus and  Helice,  and  Archedice  ch'fcn  from  the  rejl and  facr'ijiccd  upon  the  jhoar  in' 

Van  . .. .  de  M  Lindus,  a  City  «/ Rhodes.     MCCXLVIl."— Brit  Antiqu.  Illuft.  p.  lo. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  ,45 

'JThat  tiiey  were  not  unflcilled  in  the  mechanical  arts,  their  chariot  is  a  fufficieat  prooi*:  Oq 
this  point,  we  cannot  helitate.  The  application,  therefore,  of  their  talents  to  fliip-build- 
ing,  was  ealy.  and,  I  will  add,  unavoidable.  Cxfar,  it.  is  true,  has  noticed  the  oiler-boats 
only,  of  the  Britons  :  And  Caefar's  authority,  as  far  as  it  goes,  is  valid.  But  Cselar  was, 
not  acquainted  with  Daninonium.  The  vellels  he  faw,  he  deicribed  :  What  he  had  no 
opportunity  of  obferving,  or  of  having  fatisfadlorily  attcfted,  he  left  unnoticed.  And 
fo  dillant  was  Danmonium  from  the  fcene  of  his  victories,  that  he  probably  met  with  no 
creditable  ptople,  who  could  anfvver  his  enquiries  relating  to  the  genius  or  cuftoms  of 
the  weftern  Britons.  In  (hort,  I  think,  the  filence  of  Coefar  as  to  this  point,  and  th^ 
filence,  indeed,  of  hiftory  in  general,  will  furnifh  no  argument  againfc  my  opinion,  that 
the  Dannionians  were  in  poireiiion  of  vellels  fuperior  to  iilhing-boats.  Ion"'  before  Csfar's 
time.  That  the  Britifli  boats  Ihould  have  been  fo  much  noticed  by  ancient  v.'riters,  v.as 
probably,  owing  to  the  fingularity  and  novelty  of  their  form  :  They  were  Afiatic ;  and 
therefore,  uncommon  in  the  eyes  of  Europeans. (<3)  In  the  mean  time,  the  Britifh  veA 
fels  of  a  better  form,  were  more,  perhaps,  like  the  (hips  of  other  countries ;  and  were, 
therefore,  feldom  mentioned.  Though  the  larger  fliips  cf  the  Danmonians  be  not  de- 
icribed, we  have  hiftorical  evidence,  enough,  I  think,  to  prove  that  fuch  veflels  muft  have 
e:iillcd.  To  fay  nothing  of  the  (Z^"  longis  navibus  haud  ita  multis,"  in  which 
the  colonial  voyage  from  S.  Scythia  was  performed,  it  is  a  certain  faft,  that  many  of  the 
Danmonians  embarked  for  Ireland  at  the  time  of  the  Belgic  invafion,  that  fuch  a  body  of 
people  croifed  the  leas  as  to  form  a  colony  on  the  Iriih  coaft,  and  that  this  emigration  v,-as 
made  with  the  greateft  difpatch,  whilft  the  Belgse  were  overrunning  the  country.  Not 
to  notice  the  embarkation  of  troops  from  Daiimonium  on  other  occafions,  this  fmgle  ex- 
pedition, I  think  (more  than  three  centuries  before  Csefar)  fliould  leave  on  our  minds 
no  mean  imprelfion  of  the  Danmonian  navy.  That  great  numbers  of  people,  furniflied 
not  only  with  voyaging  ftores,  but  with  every  thing  neceflary  for  an  eftablidnnent  in 
another  country,  Ihould  let  fail  from  Danmonium,  on  the  alarm  of  a  holliie  invafion,  and 
confequently  without  time  for  much  preparation,  and  that  they  Ihould  be  conveyed  in 
fafety  acrofs  the  leas,  and  aftually  form  a  new  colony  on  a  foreign  coaft,  is  fcarcely 
polFible,  unlefs  we  give  them  credit  for  having  been  good  ftiip-builders  as  well  as  ikilful 
navigators.  They  mull  have  had  capacious  veflels  in  their  docks  :  A  colony,  with  all 
its  provifions,  in  little  ofier  boats — is  ridiculous.  With  refpeft  to  the  ihip-building 
and  navigation  of  the  Greeks,  who  fuccellively  followed  the  Phenicians  in  tradino-  to  this 
part  of  the  illand,  and  probably  in  planting  colonies  here,  there  are  certain  faiSls  on  re- 
cord, which  cannot  be  difputed.  We  have  it  on  the  authority  of  Athensus,  that  about 
two  hundred  years  before  Csfar,  the  Greeks  had  made  a  rapid  progrefs  in  lliip-building 
and  navigation.  That  famous  fliip  which  was  bu  It  at  Syracufe  under  the  direction  of 
Archimedes,  is  at  once  a  proof  of  the  proficiency  of  the  Greeks  in  the  maritime  arts  and 
of  their  connexion  with  Britain.  According  to  Atheuccus,  this  Ihip  had  three  mails,  of 
which  the  fecond  and  third  were  ealily  procured  j  but  it  was  long  before  a  tree  for  the 
main-mail  could  be  found.  At  length  a  proper  tree  was  difcovered  in  the  mountahis  of 
Britain ;  and  brought  down  to  the  fea-coall  by  machines  invented  by  a  famous  mechanic 
Phileas  Tauromenites.  This  is  a  curious  faft.  And  the  mountains  of  Britain,  I  con- 
ceive, were  the  mountains  cf  Danmonium.  In  other  parts  of  the  illand,  the  Greeks 
had  very  flight  connexions.  It  was  with  Danmonium  that  they  traded  :  It  was  here, 
they  had  eftabliflred  their  factory  :  It  was  here,  they  had  fixed  a  colony.  But,  whether 
the  timber  for  the  mainmall  of  this  Grecian  ihip  were  difcovered  in  Danmonium  or 

any 

(-<j)    Primum^  cana  falix,''madefaiao  vimine,  parvarn 
Texitur  in  puppim,  ccefoque  indu-ita  juvenco 
Viftoris  patiens,  tumidum  circumnatat  amnem. 
Sic  Venetus  (tagnante  Pado,  fufoque  Britannus 

Navigat  Oceano Luc.  Pharfal.  1. 4, 

'. rei  ad  miraculum 

Navigia  junftis  femper  aptant  pellibus, 

Corioque  vaftum  faepe  percurrunt  falum*  Feft.  Avienus  in  Oris  Marit, 

See,  alfo,  Caefar,  p.  240.  and  Pliny,  1.4.  c.  16. 

{h)  Saxon  Chronicle,  p.  i.  They  were  but  feiu  fhips :  yet  they  contained  a  fufficient  number  of 
people  to  form  a  new  colony  in  a  very  diftant  country— a  proof  that,  thefe  /«w  fliips  muft  h4ve 
been  capacious. 

Vol.  I,  T 


146  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

any  other  part  of  the  ilhuid,  it  is  probable  from  this  circumftance,  that  the  art  of  fliip- 
building;  hud  been  communicated  to  the  Britons.  As  we  advance  in  the  argument,  the 
proofs  become  more  convincing.  We  ihall  find  them,  indeed,  irrejiltible.  That  the 
Britons  were  acquainted  with  lliip-building  and  navigation  before  the  time  of  Ciefar, 
appears,  I  think,  from  the  following  circimillances.  Though  the  Veneti  of  IJritany  con- 
felfedly  excelled  all  the  continental  nations  in  their  knowledge  of  maritime  aHairs,  and 
in  the  number  and  ftrength  of  their  fliips,  yet,  when  they  were  preparing  to  fight  a  deci- 
Jive  battle  a<^ainll:  the  Romans  by  lea,  they  afked  and  obtained  auxiliaries  from  Britain, 
And  this  tliey  certainly  would  not  have  done,  if  the  Britons  could  have  allilted  them  only 
with  a  few  wicker-bqats.  The  Britons,  therefore,  had,  probably,  fliips  nearly  of  the  lame 
form  and  conftru6tion  with  thole  of  their  friends  and  allies  the  Veneti.  And  the  (hips 
of  the  Veneti  are  defcribed  by  Cicfar,  as  large,  lofty,  and  llrong,  built  entirely  of  thick 
planks  of  oak,  and  lb  folid,  that  the  beaks  of  the  Roman  (hips  could  make  no  imprelfion 
on  them.  In  that  famous  fea-fight  off  the  coafts  of  Armorica,  the  combined  fleets  of  the 
Veneti  and  the  Britons  confifted  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  of  thele  large  and  llrong 
fhips.  (.7)  To  clofe  the  whole,  let  us  recur  to  Ofllan  -.  There  are  pailages,  I  think,  in 
his  poems,  which  mult  determine  the  controverfy.  The  very  name  of  the  Brilifli  prince 
who  was  believed  to  be  the  inventor  of  fliips,  and  the  firft  who  conduced  a  colony  out 
of  Briton  into  Ireland,  is  preferved  in  thele  poems.  '  Larthon,  the  firll  of  Bolga's  race, 
who  travelled  on  the  winds — who  (irll  feat  the  black  (hip  through  ocean,  like  a  whale 
throu2;h  the  burfting  of  foam.     He  mounts  the  wave  on  his  own  dark  oak  in  Cluba's 

rid"-y"bay that  oak  which  he  cut  from  Lumon,  to  bound  along  the  fea.     The  maids 

turn  their  eyes  away,  left  the  king  (hould  be  iowly  laid.  For  never  had  they  leen  a  fliip, 
dark  rider  of  tlie  waves !'  This  expedition  of  Larthon  mull  have  happened  two  or  three 
centuries  before  the  lirft  Roman  invadon ;  from  which  period  the  intercourle  between 
Caledonia  and  Ireland  was  frequent  :  Hence  the  people  of  both  countries  mull  have 
gradually  improved  in  fliip-building  and  navigation.  Thele  arts  were  lb  far  advanced  in 
the  days  of  Fingal,  that  this  illullrious  hero  made  feveral  exi^editions,  accompanied  by 
Ibme  hundreds  of  his  warriors,  not  only  into  Ireland,  but  into  Scandinavia,  and  the  iflands 
of  the  Baltic.  We  learn  from  the  poems  of  Oflian,  that  the  ancient  Britons  of  Caledonia 
fteered  their  courfe  by  certain  ftars,  in  their  voyages  to  Ireland  and  Scandinavia.  "  I  bade 
my  white  fails  (fays  Fingal)  rile  before  the  roar  of  Cona's  wind — When  the  flight  came 
down,  I  looked  on  high  for  fiery-haired  Ul-crim.  Nor  wanting  was  the  ftar  of  heaven  : 
it  travelled  red  between  the  clouds  :  I  purlued  the  lovely  beam  on  the  faint-gleaming 
deep."  In  another  palfage  of  thele  poems,  no  lefs  than  feven  of  theie  ftars  which  were 
particularly  obferved  by  the  Britifli  lailors,  are  named  and  defcribed,  as  they  were  em- 
bofled  on  the  fliield  of  Cathmor,  chief  of  Atha.  "  Seven  boffes  roCe  on  the  fliield — On 
each  bofs  is  placed  a  ftar  of  night ;  Can-mathon  with  beams  unfliorn  ;  Colderna  rifing 
from  a  cloud  ;  Uloicho  robed  in  mift  ;  Cathlin  glittering  on  a  rock.  Reldurath  half  (inks 
its  vveftern  light — Berthen  looks  through  a  grove — Tonthena,  that  ftar  which  looked,  by 
night,  on  the  courfe  of  tlie  fea-tolled  Larthon.''  When  a  fleet  of  the  ancient  Britons 
failed  under  the  command  of  one  leader,  the  commander's  fliip  was  known  by  his  fliield 
hung  high  on  the  maft  :  And  the  feveral  fignals  were  given  by  ftriking  the  difltrent  bofles 
of  that  Ihieid,  which  vv-ere  commonly  feven  ;  each  yielding  a  different  and  well-known 
ibund.  "  Three  hundred  youths  looked  from  their  waves  on  Fingal's  bofly  fliield.  High 
on  the  maft  it  hung,  and  mLirked  the  dark  blue  lea. — But  when  the  night  ciune  down,  I 
ftruck  at  times  the  warning  bofs — Seven  bofles  rofe  on  the  fliield ;  the  feven  voices  of  the 
king,  which  his  warriors  received  from  the  wind,  and  marked  over  all  their  tribes." 

After  this  deduifion  of  the  Britifli  commerce,  from  the  earlieft  times  down  to  the 
Roman  Period,  it  is  natural  to  enquire,  whether  this  commerce  was  carried  on  by  way 
of  barter  (the  exchange  of  one  commodity  for  another)  or  whether  certain  metals,  as 
gold,  filver,  and  brafs,  the  great  medium  of  commerce  in  almoft  every  age,  were  adopted 
as  the  reprefentatives  of  dift'erent  commodities.  The  primitive  mode  of  commerce  was 
the  exchanging  of  one  commodity  for  another  :  But  the  great  inconveniencies  experienced 
by  thofe  who  carried  on  their  trade  in  the  way  of  barter,  foon  occafioned  the  invention 
of  money.  It  fliould  fceni  from  a  few  fcatterecf  pailages  in  ancient  authors,  that  the  Bri- 
U>fls  were  unacquainttd  with  money,  or  witli  its  mercantile  ufes.     Yet,  that  tlie  Britons 

{«)  Caefar,  lib.  3.  c.  S,  9.  c.  13,  14,  15,  i6. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  147 

had  the  knowledge  of  (a)  money,  and  that  they  ufed  brafs -money,  is  evident  from  this 
pafTage  in  Cxfar  -.  Utuutur  aiit  area  aiit  taleis  ferreis  ad  certum  poudus  examinatis  pro 
num7i!o.{b)  But  Ca^far  is  here  fpeaking  of  the  Britons  on  the  fea-coafts,  particularly  thofe 
of  Kent,  who  imported  their  brafs  from  the  Continent.  With  the  Danmonians,  Csefaq 
had,  at  this  time,  little  or  no  acquaintance.  I  only  quote,  therefore,  his  authority,  to 
prove  one  fimple  fail,  that  the  Britons  knew  the  uie  of  money  before  the  time  of  Casfar. 
For  it  is  not  probable,  that  the  money  in  circulation  among  the  people  of  Kent,  fliould 
be  confined  to  their  own  diftriil.  The  principal  trading  towns  in  the  ifland,  were, 
doubtlefs,  acquainted  with  money.  Nor  could  the  merchants  of  Exeter,  in  particular, 
be  ignorant  of  its  ufe.  That  money  coined  at  Britiih  mints  had  been  long  circulated 
through  the  ifiand,  is  plain  from  the  Roman  edift  fupprefling  all  fuch  coins,  and  prohi- 
biting the  ufe  of  any  money  in  Britain,  but  what  was  llamped  with  the  image  of  a  Cjefar. 
In  the  mean  time,  we  are  not  to  imagine,  that  the  Britons  ufed  brafs  and  iron  money 
only  ;  to  the  exclufion  of  thofe  metals  which  were  fo  obvioufly  preferable  for  the  mint. 
In  our  Danmoniaii  mines  were  produced  no  fmall  quantities  of  gold  and  filver.  And 
that  the  Danmonians  had  gold  coins,  is  plain  from  thofe  of  Karnbre,  which  Borlafe  has 
exhibited  in  his  Antiquities  of  Cornwall,  plate  XIX,  and  which  he  has  properly  attribu- 
ted to  the  Britons.  In  his  Natural  Hiilory  of  Cornwall,  Borlafe  has  alio  exhibited  (as 
lupplemental)  feveral  coins  of  the  fame  kind,  in  plate  XXIX.  Of  all  thefe  coins,  I  (hall 
here  infert  my  leirned  countryman's  defcription,  as  I  think  they  are  particularly  curious, 
and  then  offer  both  Borlafes  and  my  own  conjeilures  on  the  fubjeft.  "  In  the  month 
of  June  174.5,  ^'""^  ^^^  middle  of  the  ridge  of  Karnbre-hill,  were  found  fuch  a  number  of 
coins  of  pure  gold,  as  being  Ibid  for  weight,  brought  the  finder  about  16  pounds,  fter- 
ling.  Near  the  iame  quantity  was  found  by  another  perfon  near  the  fame  fpot,  a  few 
days  after ;  all  which  were  foon  fold  and  difpers'd  :  fonie  were  much  worn  and  fmooth'd, 
not  by  age,  or  lying  in  the  earth,  but  by  ui'e,  thej'  having  no  allay  to  harden,  and  fecure 
them  from  wearing.  Seventeen  I  exhibit  in  plate  XIX.  of  different  impreffion?,  fize,  or 
weights  ;  feveral  others  found  at  tha  iame  time  and  place,  I  have  feen,  but  being  of  the 
fame  fort  as  thele  examples,  I  think  it  needlefs  to  lay  them  before  the  public.  I  range  the 
rudeft,  and  thofe  which  have  figures  n\oft  unknown  firft,  (as  others  engag'd  in  the  fame 
fubject  have  done)  being,  in  all  probability,  the  moft  ancient;  the  others  follow  accord- 
ing as  their  criterions  feem  to  become  more  and  more  perfeft,  and  modern.  I  mention 
their  weight  alfo,  as  a  material  ciicumllanco,  (tho'  omitted  by  other  authors)  for  claffing 
them,  and  difcovering  what  are,  and  what  are  not  the  lame  foit  of  coin.  The  firil  has 
fome  figures  upon  it  which  I  do  not  underftand  ;  its  weight  is  twenty-two  grains.  No.  II. 
has  fome  figures  on  one  lide,  which  I  do  not  lo  much  as  guefs  at ;  on  the  other  fide  it  has 
the  limb,  or  trunk  of  a  tree,  with  little  branches  fpringing  from  it  in  one  p:ut ;  and  what 
I  take  alfo  for  the  body  of  a  tree,  with  tv/o  round  holes,  or  marks,  where  the  limbs  have 
been  lopt  off,  and  roots  at  the  bottom  on  the  other  p.irt :   it  weighs  only  23  grains.    No. 

III.  lias  a  figure,  which,  in  the  coin  attributed  to  Caffibelan,  (by  Speed  pag.  30)  is  more 
plain,  and  refembles  two  dolphins  turning  their  crooked  backs  to  each  other;  on  the  other 
fide  it  has  a  plain  large  ftump  of  a  tree,  with  two  branches  breaking  out  on  each  fide ;  it 
rifes  out  of  the  ground,  and  ftands  between  two  fmaller  trees  :  it  weighs  33  grains.     No. 

IV.  is  quite  defac'd  on  one  fide  ;  but  on  the  other,  it  has  fome  parts  of  a  horfe,  and  fome 
little  round  ftuds,  or  button-like  emboffments,  both  which  marks  will  be  particulai-ly 

difcours'J 

(a)  As  to  the  antiquity  of  money,  Itv^as  certainly  In  ufe  In  Arablaj  vvhen  the  book  of  Job  was 
written,  of  wiiich  Mofes  is  fnppofed  to  have  been  the  tranflator;  for  in  Job,  mention  is  made  of  a 
fpecies  of  money,  called  Kefitah.  The  feminine  termmation  of  this  word  in  Hebrew,  according  to 
Bochart,  imphes  a  female  lamb  ;  bnt  he  clearly  ftiews  it  as  a  piece  of  money  fo  called.  In  the  time 
of  R.  Akiba,  the  .A.frlcans  preferved  this  name  for  a  coin.  Cum  per  Africam  peregrinarc,  Obolum 
vocahant  kefitam.  (i)  "  The  Hiberno  Scythian  or  Irifh  nairle  for  money  is  kcfh,  keejda^  or  keejlta^ 
in  Ferfic  keejeh  (faysVallancey).  The  Irifh  word,  I  think,  is  derived  irom  ceas  or  keas,  ore,  refined 
ore,  or  metal  •.  whence  Co-Kca:,  or  the  mountain  Caiicafus,  remarkable  for  its  mines.  The  famous 
iron  mines  in  Armeni  v,  are  called  el-Kufcs  by  the  Arabs  at  this  day.  The  Chaldee  k^^ta  in  Job,  was 
undoubtedly  the  Sc  thian  njme  for  refined  ore,  ;.  e.  money,  and,  as  Bochart  obferves,  had  no  refe- 
rences to  lamb  or  kid."     b.  Casfar,  1.  5.  c.  12. 

(1)  Bochart,     Hierozic.  v.  2.  c.  43.  p.  432.  1.  ao, 

Vol.  I.  Ta 


148  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   or   DEVONSHIRE. 

difcoui'sW  of  when  we  come  to  explain  the  feveral  uncommon  figures  which  thefe  coins 
afford  us :  weighs  26  grains.  No.  V.  has  one  fide  effac'd  ;  the  reverfe  is  a  horfe,  betwixt 
the  legs  cf  which  there  is  a  wheel,  and  from  it's  back  rifes  the  ftem  of  a  fpear,  or  javelin  : 
weirht  26  grains.  No.  VI.  has  the  ftem  of  a  tree,  with  itu  collateral  branches  verydif- 
tinft  ;  in  the  middle,  it  is  crols'd  llopcwife  by  a  bar  like  the  ftiaft  of  a  fpear  ;  the  rev'eiie 
has  the  horfe,  the  wheel,  and  Ipear,  but  Ibmewhat  ditlerently  plac'd  on  the  gold.  The 
t\cight  is  twenty-five  grains  and  a  half,  by  which  I  conclude,  that  the  fide  which  is  de- 
faced in  No.  V.  was  the  fame  as  in  this  coin,  for  the  reveries  are  the  fame,  and  their 
weight  cor.'-efponds  to  half  a  grain,  which  may  be  allowed  for  the  greater  ufe  that  has 
been  made  of  thrs,  than  of  the  former.  No.  VH.  has  on  one  fide  fome  appearance  of  a 
human  head,  which  fide  of  the  coins  we  fiiall  henceforth  call  the  head,  as  medallifts 
generally  do,  to  avoid  a  multiplicity  of  words  ;  on  the  reverfe  the  remains  are  fo  mutila- 
teil,  that  it  can  be  only  faid,  that  this  reverfe  was  much  ornamented,  but  what  the  orna- 
ments were,  is  not  to  be  diibovcr'd.  It  weighs  23  grains.  No.  VIII.  has  the  lines  of  a 
gaj-land.  or  diadem  on  the  head.  The  reverfe  has  the  exergue  at  bottom,  fupported  by 
jagg'd  lines  inrerfpers''d  with  dots,  above  which  are  fome  barbarous  figures,  which  are  to 
be  explain'd  as  well  as  we  can^  and  their  orderly  placing  here,  and  in  fome  of  the  other 
coins,  accounted  for  in  their  proper  place.  It  weighs  four  penny  weights,  three  grains. 
No.  IX.  has  a  head  much  defac'd,  but  vifible,  as  is  alfo  the  outline  of  the  neck,  and  the 
ear  ;  behind  the  forehead,  and  nofe,  it  has  three  femicircular  protuberances  ;  the  reverfe 
has  the  fame  figure  as  the  reverie  of  No.  VIII.  but  has  more  little  round  fruds  on  it,  (the 
die  which  gave  the  im;;,efllon,  being  placed  farther  back  in  this,  than  in  the  former)  and 
difcovers  therefore  a  circular  figure.  No.  7.  with  three  pointed  javelins  No.  6.  under- 
neath it,  which  the  other  imprellion  has  not;  but  by  the  run  of  the  die  the  former  has 
one  of  the  figures  which  is  not  in  this.  It  weighs  four  penny  weights  three  grains,  which 
xreight,  and  the  reverfe  charged  with  like  figures  (though  differently  plac'd)  fliews  that 
thete  tv.-6  coins  were  llruck  at  one  time,  by  the  fame  die,  and  are  of  the  fame  value. 
No.  X.  has  a  laureated  diadem,  acrufs  which,  at  right  angles,  is  a  fillet,  or  rather  clafp, 
and  a  faint  appearance  of  a  hook  at  the  end  of  it,  the  reft  defac'd.  The  reverfe  has  a 
very  diftinft  exergue  at  bottom;  the  fame  figures  partly  as  No.  VIII.  IX.  but  the  die 
was  plac'd  ftill  farther  back  on  the  gold,  therefore  not  altogether  the  fame,  the  javelins, 
or  fpears  (or  whatever  thofe  pointed  ftakes  fignify)  being  in  this  coin  cut  off  by  a  de- 
fcending  line,  intimating  that  but  part  only  of  thofe  inftruments  were  to  be  exhibited. 
It  weighs  four  penny  weights  two  grains,  by  which  it  is  probable,  that  it  is  the  fame  fort 
of  coin  with  the  two  foregoing,  allowing  one  grain  out  of  fifty  for  the  wear.  No.  XI. 
has  the  laureated  diadem  and  clafp,  above  whi'ch  the  hair  turns  oft"  in  bold  curls ;  the 
reverfe  has  the  fame  charge  as  the  three  foregoing,  but  better  plac'd,  and  it  fliould  be  a 
coin  of  the  fiime  fort,  but  it  weighs  four  penny  weights  and  feven  grains,  fb  that  it  mufi: 
have  been  much  lefs  us'd,  than  the  others,  if  of  the  fame  time  and  value.  No.  XII.  has 
on  the  head  fe-vcral  parallel  lines  fajhioned  into  fquares,  looking  like  the  plan  cf  a  toix'ny 
tf  nvbich  the  fireets  crofs  nearly  at  right  angles,  and  the  vjkole  cut  by  one  Jlraight  and 
ifider  Jireet  than,  the  rcfi.  On  the  reverfe  are  the  remains  of  a  horfe  with  a  collar  or  gar- 
land round  his  neck,  and  behind,  fomething  like  a  charioteer  driving  forward  :  under- 
neath th.e  horfe  is  a  w'aeel,  and  a  few  fluds  fcatter'd  near  the  extremities  of  the  coin. 
'One  penny  weight  three  grains.  No.  XIII.  jufl  fhews  the  faint  profile  of  a  human 
face ;  the  reverfe  a  horfe,  a  fpear  hanging  forward  towards  the  horfe's  neck,  fome  ap. 
pearance  of  a  charioteer  above  the  horfe  :  it  weighs  only  twenty  three  grains.  No.  XIV. 
has  a  laureated  diadem  round  the  temples,  above  which  the  hair  turns  back  in  large 
curls:  the  diadem  has  the  clafp,  or  ribbon,  which  has  a  hook  at  the  bottom  of  it,  amj 
■onthe  fhoulder  is  ^fibula  or  button  which  tuck'd  up  the  loofe  garment.  The  reverie 
has  a  .horfe  with  a  wheel  below  it,  and  many  fmall,  and  large  fluds  above  it.  It  weigh'd 
^i.E^.-^iis.  Ko.  XV.  exhibits  a  diftin(^l  human  fiice  in  profile ;  the  head  is  laureated, 
cii'-fp^d,  and  cirrated  as  the  otlwrs,  which  plainly  fhews,  that  where  there  is  only  a  fimpk 
laureated  d  atlem  now  to  be  feen,  as  in  Nos,  X.  XI.  XIV.  there  the  human  face  alfb  was, 
though  now  worn  out.  The  reverfe  has  a  horfe,  with  a  wheel  below  it,  and  crefcents, 
ftudi,  and  balb  above  it.  Weight  26  grains.  No.  XVI.  is  the  beft  preCerv'd  coin  as 
•well  as  largeft  and  molt  diflinft,  which  I  have  feen  of  the  gold  coins  found  in  Cornwall. 
Th.e  profile  is  well  proportion'd,  and  neither  deftitute  of  fpirit  nor  expreflion  :  and  it  is 
fome  what  fur_pri/.ing  th'it  an  artift  wlio  could  defign  the  human  face  fo  well,  fliould  draw 
the  horfe  fo  very  indifferently  on  the  other  fide,    This  iwad  has  two  jrows  of  curis  above 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  J49 

the  laureated  diadem,  and  the  folds  of  the  garments  rife  up  round  the  neck  clofe  to  the 
ear.  The  revcrfe,  a  horfe,  a  wheel,  balls  and  crelcents,  as  in  the  reft.  Weighs  four 
penny  weight,  fourteen  grains.  No.  XVII.  is  the  fame  weight  as  No.  XIII.  and  the 
horfe  is  nearly  of  the  fame  turn,  but  here  it  has  a  crelT:  of  beads  or  pearl  for  a  mane,  as 
No.  XIV.  It  has  alio  Ibme  appearance  of  reins  (as  of  a  bridle)  under  the  jaw ;  the  horfe 
is  better  rurn'd  than  in  any  of  them.  Behind  the  wheel,  it  has  Ibmething  depending  like 
a  pole,  which  reaches  the  ground ;  whether  a  reclining  fpear,  or  what  their  icythes  might 
be  fiiften'd  to,  or  any  otl.er  part  of  the  chariot  is  uncertain,  but  the  charioteer  is  plain. 
I  perceive  no  letters  on  any  of  them ;  fome  are  plain,  or  flat ;  fomc  a  little  concave  oa 
one  fide  and  convex  on  the  other,  but  not  rernarkably  lb.  Eight  coins  are  here  lubioin'd, 
from  the  cabinets  of  the  curious,  not  yet  publifli'd,  which  may  tend  to  iiiuftrate  the  fore- 
gOiiig.  The  five  following  are  copied  from  the  collection  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gilford,  of 
<)£een  fquare,  Ormond-lheet,  London,  and  were  in  his  pofleliion  before  the  gold  coins 
above  defcrib'd  were  found  at  Karn-bre,  but  in  what  part  of  Britain  they  were  found  is 
uncertain.  No.  XVIII.  on  one  fide  a  head  embofs'd  ;  the  reverie  a  ver\'  uncouth  ancient 
horle  with  its  head  to  the  right  hand  ;  the  other  ornaments  as  in  the  reii :  the  ufe  we  fliall 
make  of  this,  ihall  be  to  explain  the  marks  of  thofe  which  go  before,  where,  though  the 
lame,  they  are  not  fo  dillinft,  nor  treated  of  by  any  author  I  have  yet  {een.  Weio-hs 
four  penny  weight,  one  gi-ain ;  a  little  concave  on  the  reverfe.  No.  XIX.  bars,  ftakes, 
or  fragments  of  fpears,  or  javelins  croffing  irregularly  ;  reverfe  a  horfe,  with  a  fpear  lean- 
ing forth  over  it's  neck,  the  fpear  held  (as  it  were)  by  an  arm  reaching  forward  ;  fplin- 
ters  or  pieces  of  ipears  in  other  parts  of  the  coin  ;  a  garland  round  the  horfes's  neck,  the 
mane  made  of  a  line  of  ftuds  ;  a  little  convex  on  the  reverfe.  Weight  29  grains.  No. 
XX.  a  noble  coin  ;  the  head  is  ornamented  in  the  ii^me  manner  as  No.  XVI.  but  has  the 
clafp  over  the  diadem  much  plainer ;  the  hook  at  the  bottom  of  the  clalp  alfo  very  plain, 
and  fliews  the  (hape  of  this  member,  in  Nos.  X.  XI.  XIV.  XV.  where  they  are  defeilive. 
it  has  more  curls  below  the  diadem,  and  the  hair  of  the  hinder  part  of  the  head  feems  tra- 
ced in  ribbons  ftudded  with  pearl  :  it  (liews  alio  more  of  the  habit  than  No.  XVI.  but  it 
has  either  loft  or  never  had  the  profile,  in  which  particular  it  falls  greatly  fliort  of  the  other. 
The  reverfe  is  a  horfe  in  the  fame  ftyle,  and  furrounded  with  the  fame  ornaments  as  No. 
XVI.  the  weight  is  four  penny  weight,  nineteen  grains,  which  is  Hve  grains  more  than 
the  above  coin,  and  if  that  diiference  may  be  imputed  to  the  different  ufe  made  of  thefc 
coins,  (^.)  they  are  of  one  age,  were  originally  of  one  weight  and  value,  and  very  likely 
of  one  and  the  fame  prince.  No.  XXI.  the  head  defac'd.  The  reverfe  a  horfe  well 
fliap'd,  and  of  neat  defign  :  underneath,  is  a  ftar  of  five  rays,  form'd  very  artificially  by 
the  inrerfe£uon  of  three  equal  triangles. (/>)  Both  the  horie  and  this  geometrical  fio-ure, 
fliew  this  coin  to  be  much  more  modern  than  any  of  our  Karn-bre  coins  j  it  is  a  little 
fconcave  on  the  reverfe,  and  weighs  twenty  grains  and  a  half.  No.  XXII.  a  well  preferv'd 
face,  and  of  elegant  workmanfliip.  In  the  reverfe  the  horfe  is  well  proportioned,  has  a 
fcharioteer  behind  it.  pointing  forward  the  fpear,  a  wheel  of  dots  under  it  fupported  by 
an  exergue,  and  the  chariot-wheel  alio  clofe  at  the  horfe's  heels  :  the  mane  of  the  horfe  is 
'a.  line  of  beads  or  pearls.  This  coin  is  ftill  more  modern  than  the  reft,  and  is  of  the 
S^me  fort  in  all  appearance,  as  that  publifti'd  in  the  laft  edition  of  Camden,  vol.  I.  tab. 
ii.  No.  XXX  ;  though  for  want  of  the  weight  being  fpecified,  it  can't  certain!}'  be  affirmed. 
ft  weighs  29  grains  and  a  half.  No.  XXIII.  is  a  coin  from  the  cabinet  of  Smart  Lethe- 
iiliier,  Efq.  of  Aldersbrook  in  Effex.  In  the  bead,  it  has  the  laureated  diadem  with  Ibme 
turl'd  hair  above  it,  over  which  comes  the  clafp.  Under  the  diadem  leems  the  collar^ 
■prnament  of  No.  XX.  but  out  of  its  place;  underneath  are  two  large  crefcents,  fo  that 
this  fide  of  the  coin  feems  to  be  a  colleftion  of  the  ornaments  of  the  head  inferted  toge^ 
Iher,  and-the  face  never  intended.  I  find  this  coin  very  near  the  fame  as  Dr.  Plot's 
"coin,  (pag.  335.  No.  21.  Oxfordftiire)  who  takes  it  to  contain  two  faces  of  Prafiitagus 
and  Boadieea,  but  I  fee  nothing  tending  that  way.  {c)     In  the  reverfe  is  a  horfe  of  the 

fame 

\d)  There  are  four  grahis  difference  betwixt  No.  IX.  and  XL  which  however  are  certainly  coin* 
TDf  the  fame  fort.  (Z.)  I  find  the  fame  figure  in  one  of  the  Britirti  coins  publifli'd  in  Dr.  Battely's 

-iAntiq.  Rhutupianae.  page  93.     Borlajc, 

(c)  The  learned  Mr.  Walker  (from  whom  Dr.  Plot  had  this  coin,  which  is  alfo  publKh'd  in 
Camden,  Tab.  I.  No.  29.)  I  find  of  the  fame  opinion,  that  it  does  not'c'ontain  two  faces  :  "  1  fee 
no  refemblance  (fays  he,  Camden  pa^e  CXVI.)  of  one  or  move  faces,  I  rather  imagine  it  to  be  fome 
<fortification  ;"  which  latter  fuppofition,  I  can't  but  obferve,  is  as  far  wide  of  the  nuth  as  Dr.  plot'i^ 
as  by-eomparing  this  coin  with  the  ethers  here  produc'd,  will  readily  appear.    BQilaJe, 


iqo  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of   DEVONSHIRE. 

fame  ftyle  as  No.  XVII.  but  the  wheel  is  larger,  and  the  cars  and  tail  of  the  horfe  more 
apparent,  t'.iough  of  very  clumfy  defign  ;  the  whole  l"a\ouring  of  great  antiquity,  and 
Paewing  the  low  pitch  of  the  art  of  coining,  at  this  time,  in  the  nation  to  which  this  coin 
belongs.  But  the  greatclt  curiofity  of  this  coin,  and  the  realbn,  indeed,  for  which  it  is 
here  introduc'd,  is,  that  it  is  neither  gold,  nor  wholly  eleftrum,  or  any  imitation  of  gold, 
but  leems  to  be  copper  plated  over  with  a  mix'd  metal  in  imitation  of  gold.  No.  XXIV. 
and  XXV.  are  filver  xoins  of  the  fame  kind,  from  the  cabinet  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wife, 
Radclirf  Librarian,  Oxford,  and  inferted  here  for  confirming  the  dcfcriptions  tlrat  go  . 
befoi-e,  as  will  be  more  particularly  explain'd  hereafter ;  they  were  found  in  the  p.irifh 

of  Swaciitfe  near  Madmnrilon  Cattle,    OxfordPnire,    1746."  (a) '  I'heve  are  many 

p.irts  of  our  Britifli  coins,  wliich,  tho'  faithfully  enough  copied  by  engravers,  are  yet 
■RTongly  plac'd  in  the  plates,  becaufe,  indeed,  they  did  not  know  what  they  had  copy'd. 
Thisis  the  realbn  that  we  find  the  diaden^,  fometimes  horizontal,  (^)  at  other  times  per- 
pendicular;  (t-)  whereas  we  .all  know,  that  this  ihould  rile  (loping  from  the  ear  to  the 
foreh.ad.     In  Montfaucon's  plate  No.  16.  the  horfe  is  hid  on  his  back  with  his  legs  up- 
permoft ;  and  in  No.  36.  the  horfe's  body  is  perpendicular,  and  lb  is  tlie  line  of  the 
txet-gne ;  which  fame  fault  is  committed  in  placing  the  reverfe  of  Plot's  No'.  21.  page 
335.  plain  evidences,  that  the  engraver  did  i>ot  undcrftand  the  figure,  tho'  he  drew  the 
fi/e  and  Ihape,  not  knowing  what  animal  it  was,  or  whether  an  animal  cr  not:    and, 
whoever  copyd  the  fine  gold  coin  in  Camden's  lail  edit.  pag.  833,  No.  21.   (of  the  fame 
age  with  fome  of  thofe  at  Karnbre)  moft  certainly  did  not  know  what  figure  he  had  be- 
fore him,  and  therefore  "tis  no  wonder  that  the  learned  editor,  depending  on  his  engraver; 
thouid  place  the  horfe  upon  his  back.    There  is  one  thing  more  necefiary  to  be  oblerv'd, 
in  order  to  place  theie  coins  with  propriety,  which  is,  that  leveral  of  our  Karn-bre  coins 
have  not  the  horfe  on  the  reverie,  (as  No.  VIII,  IX,  X,  XI.)  but  inftead  thereof,  have 
certain  members,  and  fymbols  adjulted  together  in  fuch  a  manner  as  to  imitate  the  lliape 
of  a  horfe,  and  become,  when  joyn'd  together,  the  emblem,  rather  tlian  the  figure,  of 
that  creature,  which  the  engraver  knew  no  better  how  to  dsfign.    Theie  ftveral  lymbols 
are  not  to  be  expiain'J,  but  by  the  coins  in  w-hich  we  find  the  fame  parts  inferted  in  the 
compofition  of  the  entire  figure  in  fome,  which  in  others  are  detach'd^  and  vuiconuefted. 
The' latter  mull  derive  their  light  from  the  former.     For  example.     In  No.  VIII.  you 
find  three  of  the  figures  mark'd  in  the  table  of  fymbols  (./)  No.  i.     In  No.  IX.  thei-e 
are  four  of  the  fame  lymbols;  in  No.  X.  two,   No.  XI.  four.    "What  (hould  be  the  intent 
of  placing  fuch  figures,  in  fuch  numbers  on  theie  reverfes  ?    Why,  in  No.  XVIII.  and 
XIX.  we  find  the  legs  of  the  horfe  made  in  this  unnatural  fafliion  ;  and.  it  is  obfervable, 
that  where  the  horle  is  not,  there  thefe  legs  (the  moll  ufeful  parts  of  this  uleful  creature) 
are  piac'd.     They  are  four  in  number,  in  Nos.  IX.  and  XI.  and  would  have  been  alfo 
in  the  fame  number  :md  place,  in  No.  VIII.  and  X.   (for  by  the  weight,  and  fymbols, 
thefe  four  m.uft  have  been  coins  of  the  fame  fort,  time  and  value)  ;  but  that  the  mould  in 
itriking  thefe  latter,  was  miiplac'd.  (<?)     They  are  piac'd  two  and  two,  with  a  ball,  or 
wheel  between  them,  as  in  the  coins  which  have  horfes  entire.     Between  them  the  half- 
moon  dips  his  convex  part,  fomething  in  the  manner  of  the  horfes  barrell,  above  which 
another  crelcent-like  bunch  forms  the  back  ;  a  round  ball  turns  to  fliape  the  buttock,  .and 
on  the  forepart,  a  thick  handle  of  a  javelin  (lopes  upwards  from  the  bread  to  form  the 
neck  and  creft  of  the  horfe.   In  coin  XI.  we  find  the!e  lymbols  in  full  number,  (i.  e.  four) 
very  diltinft,  and  as  jul'tly  piac'd  as  the  engraver's  fkill  could  direft.  When  thefe  are  p]ac"d 
double,  as  in  coin  XVII,  tliey  fcem  intended  to  denote  there  being  two  horfes  a-breaft,  as 
was  the  ancient  cultom  of  drawing  the  fighting  chariots.     Two  little  figures  of  this  (hape 
are  alfo  ph^cd  in  the  later  coins.     When,  therefore,  fuch  figures  occur  in  Britifli  coins, 
-    ve  need  but  refer  to  thefe  of  Karn-bre  ;  and  we  find  immediately,  that  they  were  intended 
for  (bme  parts  of  a  hoife.     Round  the  horfe's  neck  of  No.  XII.  there  is  a  garland,  or 
bracelet,  which  in  No.  XIX.  is  alfo  plainly  to  be  difcover'd.     There  is  ufually  a  circular 
figure  under  the  belly  of  the  horfe,  which' in  fome,  is  a  diftinft  wheel,  as  in  coins  V,  VI, 
X^II,  XIX,  XX,  XXil,  XXIII.  and  therefore  in  the  reft  where  this  figure  is  lefs  diftinft  it 
muft  be  deemed  an  aim  at,  or  rude  imitation  of  the  fame  thing.  The  wheel  is  to  denote  th^ 

chaiiot 

(a)  Bnrlafe's  Antiquities,  p.  242  to  247. 

(/>}  Plot  Oxf.  No.  21,  pag.  335.  (r)  Wife  No.  i.  {</)  phte  XIX. 

(f)  Thefe  pnrts  of  the  hcrfe,  (III.)  are  but  very  little  better  piac'd  in  coins  XVII.  and  XXII, 
where  the  Iwifc  is  entire :  thefe  laft  mcntion'd  coins,  therefore,  are  next  in  antiquity  to  No.  XI. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  151 

chariot  to  which  the  horfe  belong'd.     The  learned  Walker  lays,  *  that  the  wheel  under 
the  hode  amongil  the  Romans,  intimated  the  making  ot  an  high  way  for  carts,  fo  many 
ot"  which,  being  in  the  Roman  times  made  in  this  country,  well  delerved  fuch  a  memo- 
rial(fl)."     What  the  wheel  ilgnified  among  the  Romans  I  fliall  not  difpute,  but  it  could 
not  be  inferted  in  the  Britilh  coins  (as  he  feems  to  imply)  for  that  purpoie  ;  for  there 
were  no  Roman  ways  made  iu  Britain  till  after  Claudius's  conqueft,  and  we  find  the  wheel 
common  in  Cunobelin's  coins,  (o)  and  in  Caflibelan's  No.  II.  ib.  in  No.  XVI,  XVII, 
XVIII.  and  in  Plot's  21  ;  and  alfo  in  the  Corni(h  coins,  which  from  all  their  charafters 
appear  to  be  older  than  the  relt.    The  wheel  is  ufually  plac'd  under  the  beliy  of  the  horfe, 
but  is  fometimes  found  in  two  places  on  the  fame  coin,   (as  in  No.  9,  and  32,  of  tab. 
II.  in  Camden)  one  above,  and  one  below  the  horfe,  to  denote  (as  I  imagine)  the  two 
wheels  of  the  cJJ'cda.     One  of  thefe  wheels  (the  upper  one  in  No.  9.  ibid.)  Walker  takes 
to  be  the  fun.     There  are  many  balls,  or  globules,  dilpers'd  in  all  the  Cornifli  coins, 
which  are  of  two  fizes ;  thole  of  the  leall  kind  are,  or  feera,  merely  ornamental,  being 
ftrung  in  rows  like  beads  or  pearls,  and  lerve  now  and  then  in  a  regular  figure  to  form 
the  mane  of  a  horfe,  (as  in  No.  V,   XVI,  XVII,  XX,  XXII.)  5  the  circumference,  or 
out  line  of  the  wheel,   (No.  XXII.  and  Mr.  Wife's  Bodlean  No.  a.)  or  a  kind  of  brace- 
let, or  garland,  (two  of  which  may  be  feen  in  one  reverie  of  the  Bodlean  No.  1 1 .)  round 
the  neck,  or  body  of  the  horfe.     There  is  another  round  figure  in  thefe  coins,  which  is 
of  the  middle  fize,  and  is  a  ring,  or  difcus,  either  pierc'd,  or  embofs'd.     They  are  larger 
in  No.  IX,  X,  XI,  than  the  wheel  itielf,  a  dilproportion  owing  to  the  rudenefs  of  the 
art  when  firft  praftis'd.    When  thefe  are  embofs'd,  as  I  find  them  in  a  well  prelerv'd  coin 
in  the  Bodlean  cabinet,  I  imagine  they  are  to  reprefent  either  the  (hield,  or  rather  the 
k!>;ii/2^,  and  may  Ihew  that  they  had  iron  plates,  as  well  as  rings  that  ferv'd  inftead  of 
money.     In  No.  XX.  fom.e  of  thefe  balls  are  plainly  pierc'd  ;  in  No.  12.  of  the  Bodleaa 
they  are  plain,  and  plac'd  where  tiie  roundnels  of  the  horfe's  body,  flioulder,  and  but- 
tock, made  'em  fall  in  with  the  iiiape  of  the  creature ;  there  are  others  in  the  Bodleaa 
coIle;5lion,  and  in  the  reverfe  of  Speed's  Caflibelan,  but  no  where  more  plain  than  in  Dr. 
Plot's  No.  21.  (pag.  335.  Oxfordfliire)  where  there  are  five  near  the  edge  of  tlie  coin, 
and  more,  tho'  of  a  fmaller  fize,  difpers'd  in  the  JieU  of  the  coin,  not  only  of  the  reverfe, 
but  of  the  head.     I  am  perfuaded  that  the  little  annular  figures  will  make  the  learned 
reader  eafily  recoUeft  the  an/ruli  ferrei  of  Csefar,  and  as  eafily  aflent  to  their  being  infeited 
on  purpofe  to  reprefent  the  ancient  money  which  the  Britans  had  before  they  coin'd  after 
the  Roman  and  Grecian  manner ;  and,  perhaps,  afterwards  too,  for  a  while,  when  the 
gold,  filver,  and  brafs  currency  feil  fliort  of  anfwering  the  exigencies  ol  the  flate.    Thefe 
rings  are  taken  notice  of  by  CaL-fu",  as  made  cf  iron,  adjufted  to  a  certain  weight,  and 
llandard,  and  us'd  inifead  of  money,  and  the  figures  of  them  on  thefe  coins,  where  this 
iyrabol  is  pierc'd  may  confirm  the  reading  of  that  paflage,  to  be  as  in  Plantin's  edit.  (lib. 
V.  pag,  S7.)   '  anmdis  ferreis  •,"  as  the  embofs'd  ones  may  in  fome  meafure  aflure  us,  that 
they  us'd  alio  taleis,  or  la;ninis,   as  we  read  it  in  others.     Where  there  are  many  of 
thefe  lymbols,  they  fhould  lignify  the  plenty  of  money  in  the  little  kingdoms  where  they 
were  ftruck.     In  many  of  thefe  Karnbre  coins,  viz.  VIII,  IX,  X,  XI,  XVI.  and  in  No. 
XXII,  we  find  a  crefcent,  or  fome  fuch  figure,  (No.  3.)  and  in  the  head  of  Dr.  Plofs 
(No.  21.)  there  are  three  ;  v.-hat  intended  to  frgnify,  is  uncertain.     We  know  the  cref- 
cent was  among  the  moft  honourable  badges  of  the  Druid  order,  and  from  the  moon  at 
fix  days  old,  they  regulated  the  beginning  of  their  months,  years,  and  ages,  every  tliir- 
tieth  year ;  lb  that  the  moon  was  of  conftant  and  efpecial  note  among  the  ancient  Britans : 
but  whether  it  be  really  a  crefcent,  or  not,  I  do  not  pretend  to  decide.     It  might  polTibly 
be  intended  to  reprefent  the  golden  hook  with  which  their  priefts  with  fo  much  folemnity 
cut  their  divine  milletoe,  or  to  record  the  hooks  or  fcythes  faftened  to  the  axis  of  their 
chariots  of  wai-,  for  foch^ey  had,(r)  and  on  thefe  coins  we  find  feveral  allufions  to  this 
manner  of  fighting.     Which  of  thefe  fuppofitions  is  moft  likely,  let  the  reader  detennine 
as  he  thinks  beft.     There  is  a  remarkable  reftilineal  figure  which  leans  obliquely  in  a  line 
nearly  parallel  to  the  creft  of  the  horfe,  with  which,  or  it's  emblem,  it  is  always  com- 
bin'd :  it  is  feen  in  No.  V,  VI.  more  uncouth  {till  in  No.  VIII,  IX,  XI.  but  ver)'  diftinft 

in 

.  (<a)  Camden,  pag.  CX,  and  in  CX'V,     On  No.  3,  and  3,  he  has  an  obfervation  of  the  fame  kind, 
lb)  See  Speed  No.  VIII,  and  XIII. 

(c-)  "  Dimicant  (fell.  Britanni)  non  cqultatu  modo  aut  pedite,  verum  et  bigis  et  currlbus  GaUcc 
traia^i.    Coyinos  vocant,  quorum  fsdcatis  axjbu*  utuntur."    Pomp,  Mela  lib.  iii.  c.  viii. 


J5«  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

in  XTII.  This  I  take  to  leprefent  the  Tpear,  with  \vhich  the  Britans  were  fo  dexterous 
in  fighting,  from  their  chariots.  In  No.  VI.  it  is  pluc'd  crois  the  tree,  out  of  which  the 
daft  was  maze,  and  iu  gratitude  perhaps  to  the  tree,  for  all^ordiiig  the  belt  fliafts  for 
thefe  uf'efiil  arms.  In  thefe  coins  then,  the  principal  figure  is  the  horfe  ;  the  wheel, 
(embi?ni  of  the  chariot,)  coiiftantly  attends  the  horfe;  the  ipear  is  vifible  in  ten  of  theJe 
coins  prodnc'd,  and  in  No.  XXII.  the  human  figure  is  phiin,  pointing  forward  the  fpear^ 
or  javelin,  as  if  advancing  to  att.ack.  the  enemy.  In  No.  XIII.  there  ai-e  ibme  traces  of 
the  fame  kind,  and  more  rude  atvempts  to  deb.neate  the  fame  in  No.  VIII,  IX,  X,  XI.  for 
the  fpear  has  the  lame  dircclion  in  all.  In  No.  XVII.  the. charioteer  is  very  apparent— 
in  fbme  winged  like  a  viitory — the  bridle — and  fomething  like  a  trapping — a  pendant  or 
trailed  fpeai-,  or  fey  the.  To  what  other  purpofe  then  are  theie  warlike  ti>irjgs  collected 
and  inferted  in  their  coins,  but  to  fignify,  that  the  chief  glory  of  the  Britans  was  their 
fltill  in  fighting  from  the:r  cliajiots  ?  The  Britans  (fays  Caviar,  lib.  iv.)  have  this  nian- 
iier  of  fighting  from  their  chariots  ;  '  firft  they  advance  throxigh  ail  parts  of  their  anny-j 
and  throw  their  'avelins,  and  having  wound  themfelves  in  among  the  troops  of  horiei 
they  alight  and  fight  on  foot;  the  chaj-ioteers  retiring  a  little  with  their  chariots,  but  pok- 
ing themfclvvis  iji  fuch  a  manner,  that  if  they  fee  their  mafters  prelsd,  they  may  be  able 
to  bring  them  olf:  by  this  means  the  Britans  have  the  agility  of  hor/e,  and  the  finimefs 
of  foot,  and  by  daily  exercife  have  attain'd  to  fuch  (kill  and  management,  that  in  a  de- 
clivity they  can  govein  the  borfes,  though  at  full  fpeed,  check  and  turn  them  fhoit 
about,  run  forward  upon  the  pole,  Hand  firm  upon  the  yoke,  and  then  withdraw  them- 
felves nimbly  into  theiii-  chariots.'  The  Briians  being  trai;:\l  to,  and  excelling  all  others 
in  this  peculiar  manner  of  fighting,  (Ca;far  himfelf,  more  than  once  acknowledging  th© 
d.forder,  into  wliich  thefe  c(j'cdarii  had  thjoun  the  Roman  foldiers)  {a)  had  nothiny 
more  glorious  to  record  in  their  coins  than  this  artful  and  eflicacious  manner  of  combat  j 
and  no  coins  with  fuch  fymbols,  fo  likely  to  be  of  any  nation  as  of  Britain.  Thence 
come  the  horfe,  the  wheel,  the  fpear  or  javelin,  and  the  charioteer,  and  perhaps  the  hoolc 
Xvith  which  their  chariot  was  arm'd.  In  the  firft  fix  Karn-bre  coins  here  exhibited,  thera 
is  no  appearance  of  the  human  head.  In  No.  VII.  and  VIII.  there  are  fome  taint  traits  of 
a  diadem.  In  No.  IX.  the  profile  of  the  face,  the  ear  and  clafp,  and  outline  of  the  neck 
is  plain,  but  the  diadem,  which  was  certainly  there  (as  mufc  be  inferr'd  from  No.  X, 
and  XI  )  is  effacd,  and  the  coin  has  loft  four  grains  more  than  No.  XI.  v.'hich  fhe»& 
that  it  has  been  fo  much  more  us'd.  In  No,  X,  XI,  XIV,  XV,  XVI,  the  diadem  is  pjlaiii 
and  ftrong.  It  is  form'd  of  leaves  which  have  this  peculiarity,  that  they  point  down- 
wards, whereas,  in  the  ancient  Roman  aiul  Grecian  coins  the  leaves  point  upwards, 
Theie  is  another  difference  between  the  diadem  in  the  Karnbre  coins,  and  in  the  Greek 
and  Roman  ;  for,  whereas,  in  the  laft  mentiond,  the  fillet  or  ribband  on  which  the  dia- 
dem is  grounded  (or  by  which  "tis  bound  together)  makes  a  very  elegant  knot  behind 
the  head,  the  Britiili  coins  have  no  fuch  thing,  but  ha\e  a  ftraight  bandage,  or  rather 
clafp  which  crofles  the  diadem  at  right  angles,  and  was  doubtlels  defign'd  (like  the  fillet 
cf  the  ancients)  to  keep  the  diadem  firm  in  its  place,  and  clofe  to  the  head.  Tiiis  is  tbfc 
meaxiing  of  that  ftraight  figure  cvoffing  the  diadem  in  No.  X,  XI.  and  XIV.  and  XVI.  of 
the  Karnbre  coins ;  but  is  moft  plainly  vifible  in  No.  XX,  XXIV,  and  XXV.  with  a 
hook  or  fcroll  at  the  end  of  it,  and  but  for  thefe  well  preferv'd  coins,  would  have  ftill 
reraain'd  uncertain  and  unknown.  Above  the  diadem,  the  hair  turns  off  in  bold  curls, 
fi>metimes  in  one  lire  or  row,  as  in  No.  X,  XI,  XIV,  XV,  but  in  the  larger  coins  in  two 
rows,  as  No.  XVI,  and  XX, (i)  Round  the  neck,  in  No.  XIV,  the  habit  of  tlie  prince 
juft  appears  ;  in  No.  XVI.  a  kind  of  fcollop'd  lace  or  ornament  of  embroidery  ;  more  of 
which  is  ftill  to  be  feen  in  No.  XX.  In  No.  I,  II,  III,  VI.  trees  are  plac'd  in  the  head 
part,  (as  was  before  obferv'd  in  the  defcription)  but  there  are  few  if  any  rings  or  bails : 
the  reafon  feems  to  be  this;  the  riches  of  the  country  where  thefe  were  coind,  confifted 
in  woods,  (not  in  money)  and  therefore  they  took  the  tree  for  their  fymbol,  as  the  coun- 
tries abounding  in  corn  took  the  j^ica,  ajid  thofe  wliich  had  plenty  of  pearls  took  the 

globulin 

(a)  "  Ord'ines  plerumque  perturbant."  (lib.  iv.  pag.  S3.)  "  Perturbatis  noftris  novltate  pugna." 
ibid.  Lb.  v.  pag.  93.  "  Equites  Hoftium  EflTe-dariique  acriter  prjelio  cum  Equitatu  noftro  in  itinere 
conflixerunt." — "  Novo  genere  pugna;  perterritis  Noftris."   ibid. 

(i)  The  Gauls  were  call'd  Comati,  fiom  their  long  hair.     The  Britans  had  probably  the  fame 
ctiftom,  for  all  uncultivated  nations  wore  long  hair,  except  Uie  Alani.  (Lucian  Tox.)  ln^vas 
Aancc  of  their  wildnefs.    Birlaft, 


I 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  i^^ 

globules  refembling  pearl,  and  thofe  which  had  pltnty  of  gold  and  money,  took  the! 
rinjjiets,  or  /a//;,//^''into  their  coins.  («)  The  figure  in  the  Jjeaif  of  No.  XII.  has  been 
beroi-e  obferv'd  to  relemble  the  ichnography  of  a  city,  and  was  probably  inferted  in  the 
coin  by  the  founder,  to  record  the  erection  of  fome  city  u  for  that  the  i^ritans  had  luch 
cities,  is  %'ery  plain  from  the  nol-lc  ruins  (containing  in  circuit  about  three  oi-  four  miles) 
near  Wrotteiley  in  tlK  county  of  Staiiord  \.here  (as  Dr.  Plot  thinks)  (6)  '  the  parallel; 
putitions,  within  the  outwall,  whole  foundations  are  Itill  vilible,  and  repreient  itreet 
running  different  ways,  put  it  out  of  doubt  tliat  it  mull  have  been  a  city,  and  that  of 
the  Britans-'C^)  I"  the  Natural  liiitory,  plate  XXIX.  "  Fig.  v.  and  vi.  are  two  gold- 
coins  found  at  Karn-bre  in  the  yeai-  1749,  with  thofe  publifhed  in  the  Antiquities  of 
Cornwall.  They  feem  both  of  the  liune  die  and  value  ^  but  the  imprefiion  ditferently  cor- 
roded by  time  and  ufe,  rnay,  by  being  exhibited  in  both,  tend  to  their  explanation.  I  can 
fay  nothing  decifive  as  to  the  lymbois,  but  I  conjefture,  that  on  the  convex  fide  there  is 
the  i-ude  figure  of  a  Ihip  with  two  mafts,  and  the  fails  fpread ;  on  the  convex  feems  a 
reprefentation  of  the  terraqueous  giobe,  encompafled  in  the  middle  with  a  zone  "zu^iy, 
which  divides  the  upper  fr^m  the  under  hemifphere.  In  the  upper  heniitphere  are  placed 
the  fun  and  moon,  in  the  under  the  leiler  luminaries.  Fig.  vii.  and  viii.  are  two  diffe- 
rent heads  from  any  already  publilhcd  in  plate  xix.  of  the  Antiquities  of  Cornwall :  the 
faces  are  bold,  and  not  inexpreifive,  turned  diiferent  waysj  the  reverfes  are  charged  with 
horfes  and  wheels  in  the  lame  ftyle  as  moll  of  thofe  already  publifhed.  Fig.  ix.  is  not  an 
ill  fitncied  head  j  the  diadem  and  its  clalp  very  dilli.idl  and  uniformly  fet,  and  the  robing 
of  the  fhoulder  plain  aiid  indilputabk.  In  the  reverlt;,  the  body  of  the  horfe  is  remark- 
ably (lender ;  the  engraver,  as  I  apprehend,  being  more  intent  to  exprefs  the  expedition 
and  fwiftnefs,  than  the  natural  fluipe  and  proportion  of  the  creature.  The  coins  are  of 
their  real  fize  and  fliape.  I  have  only  to  obferve,  that  Boutei'oue's  coins  of  the  ancient 
Gauls  have  neither  the  weight  nor  true  fhape  exprelfed,  *  becaule  either  worn  with  tife, 
or  covered  or  eaten  with  ruft,'  as  he  tells  its.  Almoft  all,  publiihed  by  him  of  this  kind 
have  plain  legends.  They  can  give  little  aid  therefore  towards  explaining  this  treafure  of 
Britifli  antiquity  found  \ix  Cornwall ;  but  if  one  can  make  any  certain  conclufion  from 
coins  printed  in  (uch  a  manner,  it  mull  be  that  they  wci^e  ftruck  by  a  people  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  Greeks  or  Romans  ;  they  favour  nothing  of  the  antiquity,  rudenefs,  and 
fimplicity  of  thofe  of  Jtarnbre.'X'O  Such  is  Borlafe's  defcription  of  our  Danmonian  coins* 
*'  Having  now  delcribed  (fays  our  author)  the  Karn-bre  coins,  and  produced  fome  others 
which  may  in  fome  meafure  explain  them,  let  ns  confider  to  what  nation  thefe  coids  are 
to  be  afcrib'd.  As  foon  as  the  Gold  coins,  above  defcrib'd,  were  found  at  Karn-bre, 
and  got  into  the  hands  of  the  curious,  it  was  by  many  imagin'd  that  they  were  foreign 
coiiis,  and  fome  thought  that  they  were  Phenician.  To  this  opinion  the  reverfe,  having 
generally  a  horfe  upon  them,  gave  at  firft  fome  countenance,  fome  of  the  Phenician  colo- 
nies having  chofen  that  creature  for  their  fymbol.  The  place  where  they  were  foimd  feem'd 
to  confirm  this  fulpicion,  Cornwall  having  been  (from  the  fii-ft  appearance  of  Britain  in 
hiftory)  celebrated  for  its  tin,  which  the  Phenicians  for  many  ages  engrofs'd  to  them- 
felves  by  their  fuperiour  ikill  in  navigation.  The  only  thing,  then,  that  remains  to  be 
done  in  order  to  determine  them  to  be  Phenician,  or  not,  is  to  confront  the  coins  found 
in  Cornwall  with  thofe  confeffedly  of  Phenician  original,  and  confider  whether  coins  of 
the  fame  llyle  have  not  been  found  in  other  parts  of  this  our  ifie  where  the  Phenicians 
never  traded.  Now  the  Phenician  legends  will  always  be  known  by  their  letters,  when 
they  exceed  the  Roman  conquell  of  Syria  (for  after  that  conqueil  they  ufed  either  Greek 
or  Roman  chara6lers  on  their  coins)  ;  but  there  is  not  one  character  to  be  found  in  thefe 
our  Cornifh  coins.  The  ancient  fymbol  of  the  Syrophenicians  was  the  palm-tree,  fome- 
times  the  murex,  and  of  their  weftern  colony,  Hercules's  pillars ;  but  there  is  no  fuch 
thing  on  our  coins.  The  Lybiphenicians  about  Cyrene  took,  indeed,  the  horfe  for  their 
fymbol ;  but  this  horfe  had  either  the  whole  palm-tree,  or  it's  ftalk  ftanding  by  it,  allu- 

diitg 

(^)  Camden  thinks,  that  tribute  for  woods  was  paid  In  fuch  coin,  and  that  tribute-monies  had  ih«4ff 
litiprefTion  from  that  deftination.     The  reader  may  chufe  which  opinion  he  thinks  moft  probable. 
(A)  Stafford,  p.  394. 
(f)  Borjafe's  Antiquities,  p.  258  to  263. 
\d)  Borlafe'6  Nat.  Hift,  ©f  CwrnwalJ,  p.  32*)  323. 

Vol.  K  V 


154  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE^. 

ding  at  once  to  their  defcent  from  the  Syrians,  and  to  the  horfe  for  which  their  owrf 
country,  Africa,  was  always  fo  famous,  and  for  the  taming  of  which  they  were  indebted 
to  theii-  principal  god,  Neptune.  With  refpe6l  to  the  Phenicians  of  Carthage,  they  had 
the  head  and  neck  of  a  horfe  for  their  Jymbol,  alluding  to  the  fable  of  their  being  com- 
manded by  Juno  to  build  their  city  where  a  horfe's  head  was  dug  up.(rt)  Cadiz  had  her 
Hercules,  his  temple,  and  his  pillars ;  but  all  thefe  were  modern  and  well  executed,  and 
of  them  nothing  is  to  be  i'etn  in  the  coins  now  before  us,  which  are  neither  well  execu- 
ted, nor  have  any  reference,  or  relation,  to  the  palm-tree,  murex,  bull  of  the  horfe,  Her- 
cules, or  his  pillars.  But  one  argument,  which  will  Hill  weigh  nioie  than  tlie  above, 
is  this,  that  coining  money,  came  lb  furprifmgly  late  into  ule  among  the  Phenicians,  that 
fuch  fkilful  artiils  as  they,  and  their  colonies  were,  could  not  coin  fuch  artlels  money  as 
ours  is.  Of  the  Phenician  coins,  (certainly  known  to  be  liich)  there  are  none  extant 
more  ancient  than  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  ;(Z>)  fo  modern  are  they  that  the  Phe- 
nicians were  m  iny  ages  celebrated  for  their  ingenuity  and  ikill  in  ether  arts,  before  ever 
they  coin'd  money;  and,  befides,  having  borrow'd  likely  this  art  from  the  Grecians, (r) 
they  cannot  with  any  probability  be  fuppoied  to  coin  money  of  fo  rude,  and  mean  defign 
as  thofe  of  Karn-bre  ;  arts  among  the  Greeks  being  arrived,  as  we  all  know,  to  their 
fummit  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great :  hiftory  forbids  us,  therefore,  to  attrihuie  fuch 
coins  as  what  are  now  under  confideration,  to  fo  polite  and  cultivated  a  nation  as  the 
Phenici  ms.  Laftl}^,  that  they  were  not  brought  hither  by  the  trading  Phenicians,  feem*. 
to  be  plain,  becaule  they  are  found,  not  only  in  Cornwall,  but  in  Wales,  and  moft  parts 
(^)  of  Britain  where  the  Phenicians  never  came,  their  trade  being  confiu'd  to  Cornwall, 
(«?)  and  their  bufmefs,  tin.  As  theie  coins  cannot  be  afcribed  to  the  Piienicians,  ib  nei- 
ther to  the  Greeks  nor  Romans.  That  they  are  not  of  Roman  workmanfliip,  the  firft 
fight  of  them  plainly  fiiews,  much  lefs  can  we  attribute  them  to  the  Greeks,  whofe  medals 
are  ftill  fuperiour  to  the  Roman  in  force  and  delicacy.  (7^  They  muft  be  cithej-  Gaulilh,^ 
therefore,  or  Britifh ;  for  people  muft  be  very  fanciful  indeed  (and  extremely  unwilling, 
or  rather  determin'd  not  to  let  their  own  country  rights  be  impartially  weigh'd)  who  will 
look  out  for  a  foreign  father  of  thefe  coins  among  the  Spaniards,  or  Germans.  (^)  That 
they  do  in  a  few  particulars  refemble  the  Gaulilh  coins  muft  be  allowd ;  and  for  this, 
very  good  reafons  can  be  given,  without  admitting  them  to  be  Gaulilh.  In  the  mean 
time,  I  muft  obferve,  that  Casfar's  feeming  to  aflert,  that  the  Britans  had  no  money  in 
his  time,  having  made  feveral  learned  men  think  that  v.-e  had  no  coin\l  money  in  Britain 
before  the  Roman  invafion,  (h)  and  others  being  of  a  different  opinion,  (i)  I  will  take 
all  the  care  I  can  that  the  veneration  which  I  have  for  the  latter,  may  neither  lead  me 
blindly  into  their  opinion,  nor  the  refpecl:  which  I  have  for  Ibme  of  the  others,  make 
me  fupprefs  what  I  think  to  be  right.  The  reafons  muft  be  weigh'd,  the  paifage  of 
Csfar  let  in  it's  proper  light,  and  the  reader  muft  determine,  *  Vtuntur  ant  areo,  aut 
ialeis  ferreis  ad  csrtum  -pondus  exa7iunaUs  fro  nummo.''  (^)  The  Britans,  lays  he,  ufe 
cither  brafs  money,  or  iron  tallies  inftead  of  money.  This  is  the  plain  grammatical  lenfe 
of  Caefar's  words,  and  in  Plantin's  edition,  the  words  run  thus,  '  Utuntnr  autejn  numir.o 
areo,  aut  a72nulis  ferreis,  &c.  pro  nummo  \  by  which  it  is  plain,  that  according  "to 
Caefar,  the  Britans  had  the  knowledge  of  money,  and  that  in  the  place  he  is  there  fpeak- 
jng  of,  they  had  brafs  money  ;  from  whence  it  may  be  inferr'd,  that  the  reafon  why  they 
had  not  gold,  and  lilver  money  there,  as  well  as  brafs,  was  not  becaufe  they  were  igno- 
rant of  the  ule  of  it  (for  the  ufe  of  gold  and  filver  money  is  much  greater  and  more 
obvious,  and  convenient  for  exchange  or  purchafe,  than  that  of  brafs)  but  becaufe 
doubtlefs  they  had  none  of  thefe  metals,  and  therefore  could  not  coin  money  of  them, 

but 

(a)  yEn.  i.  ver.  445.  {b)  Wife,  pag.  217.  {c)  Ibid,  pag.  21S. 

\d)  '  Several  gold  coins  of  the  fame  kind,  and  alfo  a  rough  ruby  were  found  not  long  ago  in  thft. 
Ifle  of  Shepey,'     Letter  from  S.  L. 

(f)  «'  By  Cornvall  here,  as  oftentimes  elfewhere,  I  mean  all  that  anciently  went  by  that  name,— 
the  fouth  and  weflem  parts  of  Devonfhire,  as  well  as  what  is  weft  of  the  Tamar."     Borlaje. 

(f)  Mr.  Jobert,  pag.  3.  tranflated  by  Gale. 

Ig)  N.  Salmon,  Nova  Anglix  Luftratio,  Lond.  1728,  pag.  387,  who  thinks  them  coins  belonging 
to  the  ancient  Saxons. 

{h)  See  Moreton's  Northampton/hire,  pag.  500.     Walker  In  Camden,  pag.  CXIV. See  Mr. 

Wife's  learned  account  of  the  Bodleian  cabinet. 

(;)  Canriden.  Plot's  Oxfordfliire,  chap.  10.  The  learned  editor  of  Camden.  Notes  Ibid.  pag.  774. 
The  late  Mr.  Ed.  Lhuyd.  Ibid.  (*)  Csef.  Comm.  lib.  v.  Janf.  edit.  pag.  92. 


The     BRITISH     PERIOD.  155 

but  were  oblig'd  to  be  contented  with  coining  the  little  brafs  they  had,  and  endeavour 
to  remedy  the  fcarcenefs  of  their  brai's  coin,  by  iron  tallies,  or  rings  of  a  certain  weight. 
Carfar  is  evidently  here  fpeaking  of  the  maritime  parts, (a)  in  which  they  might  well  ufe 
iron  inftead  of  money  ;  for  iron  was  found,  fays  he,  '  in  maritimis,^  on  the  fea  coalls  :  in 
the  fame  place  they  had  brafs  money,  but  their  brafs  was  imported,  *  are  utuntur  impor- 
tato  •,"{!})  which  argues,  that  the  maritime  coafts  had  no  brafs  out  of  their  own  lands. 
Neither  had  they  gold  or  filver  in  thefe  parts,  which  is,  doubtlefs,  the  reafon  that  they 
•did  not  coin  any  j  for  of  the  four  kings,  whom  Ctefar  mentions  in  Kent, — Cingetcrix, 
Carniliu^,  Taximagulus,  and  Segonax,  we  find  not  one  coin  which  has  any  part  of  their 
name  upon  it;  but  this  will  by  no  means  infer,  but  that  the  other  petty  kingdoms  of 
the  ifiand.  where  ihefe  metals  were,  might  have  had  gold  and  lilver  coins  among  them, 
althc'  .tlie  other  ftates,  who  had  no  fuch  native  treafures,  might  be  without  them  ;  and 
that  the  other  parts  of  this  kingdom  really  had  gold  and  filver  coins,  we  fliall  icon  find 
fome  very  llrong  arguments  to  believe.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  what  Cael'ar  fiiys, 
related  only  to  that  little  part  of  Britain,  in  which  he  pafs'd  the  (hort  time  he  llay'd  in 
this  ifland ;  all  his  whole  account  fliews,  that  he  pretended  not  to  give  any  defcription 
of  thole  inland  parts  which  were  at  a  diitance  from  the  feat  of  aftion  j  let  us  add  to  this, 
tliat  if  the  Kentiih  men  had  any  gold  coin  or  treafure,  they  certainly  took  all  the  care 
imaginable  to  conceal  it  from  Ca;lar.  But  fuppofing  that  Csefar  had  pofitively  faid  that 
the  Britans  had  no  gold  coins,  or  money  among  them ;  if  by  evidences,  unknown  to 
him,  and  fmce  his  time  diicover'd,  it  (hould  appear  extremely  probable  at  lealt,  (if  not 
as  certain  as  things  at  this  diitance  can  be  made)  that  they  really  had  luch  coins  ;  his 
authority  muft  give  way,  he  mufc  be  acknowledged  to  have  been  mif-infonn  d,  and  the 
greater  degree  of  probability  muft  determine  our  judgment.  There  are  leveral  coins 
preferv'd  and  publiHi'd  in  Camden,  and  Speed,  which  have  been  thought  to  bear  the 
names  of  Bjitiih  princes  ;  and  I  may  add,  that  they  have  other  evidences  of  their  belong- 
ing to  this  iiland.  Let  us  examine  them.  The  firft  coin  produced  by  Speed  (pag.  29.) 
is  that  of  Com.  the  reverfe  infcrib'd.  Rex  ;  and  is  fuppofed  by  him,  with  great  proba- 
bility, to  be  the  coin  of  Comius,  king  of  the  Atrebatii  in  Britain,  com.panion  to  Jnhus 
Cjefar  in  his  invafion.  I  will  only  make  one  remark  upon  the  reverfe,  which  is,  that  the 
horfe  here  is  of  nuich  too  good  a  defign  to  be  among  the  firft  elTays  of  the  Britifh  coining, 
confequently  the  Britans  muft  have  had  coins,  before  this,  or  they  could  never  hav«  mada 
tliis  horfe  and  rider  16  bold  and  fhapely.  The  next  coin  in  Speed,  is  that  of  CafJIbelan, 
which  he  read  CAS  ;  but  Moreton  in  his  Northamptonfhire  (pag.  500.)  reads  it  SCOVj 
ti\e  occafion  of  which  ditference,  is  this  :  Moreton  began  with  the  S,  goes  on  to  the  C, 
miftakes  the  wheel  (one  of  the  Britifli  fymbols)  over  the  horfe's  head  for  an  O,  and  takes 
the  A  without  its  croi's-ttroke,  (as  it  was  anciently  written)  for  a  V  ;  fo  that  Moreton'3 
objection  \o  Speed's  reading  proceeds  from  his  own  miltakes,  and  he  concludes  too  haf- 
tily,  '  That  the  Britans  had  not  the  art  of  coining  till  they  learned  it  of  the  Romans,  and 
that  they  did  not  mark  their  coins  with  the  names  of  princes  till  the  time  of  Cunobelin.* 
Speed's  reading,  then,  remaining  unirnpeath'd,  we  have  here  a  coin  of  Caffibelan,  who 
was  general  of  the  whole  war  againft  Julius  Cslar,  and  cannot  be  luppos'd  to  have  learnt 
any  art  from  the  Romans,  having  been  engag'd  continually  in  all  the  alarms  of  war  from 
the  time  that  they  landed  to  their  departure.  In  the  head,{c)  (or  the  inicrib'd  fide)  the 
horfe  is  much  better  turn  d  than  in  our  Kai'nbre  coins,  and  therefore  later ;  for  arts  and 
fciences  muft  have  time  to  ripen  in  fuch  retir'd  and  uncultivated  places  as  Britain ;  rheir 
beginnings  will  be  rude,  and  the  progrefs  of  every  art  towards  perfedtion  will  be  flow 
and  gradual,  efpecialh/,  where  no  fifter  arts  have  been  praftis'd,  and  therefore,  can't 
lend  their  helping  hand  to  forward  and  cherifh  that  which  is  newly  introduced.  The 
reverfe  of  this  coin  confirms  the  foregoing  obfervation,  the  ornaments  of  it  being  a  kind 
of  fcroU-work,  intermix'd  with  balls  more  uniformly  difpos'd,  and  the  whole  better 
digefted  than  our  coins,  and  therefore  later.     Cunobelin's  coin  is  later  ftill  than  that  of 

Callibelan, 

{a)  As  appears  by  the  whole  paflage.  *'  Britannlae  pars  interior  ab  lis  incolitur  quos  natos  in  in^'ula 
ipfa  memoiia  proditum  Hicunt;  maritima  pars  ab  iis,  &c."  And  t!"en  he  goes  on  with  the  account 
of  tiie  maritime  parts,  till  he  comes  down  to  nummo ;  then  he  paffes  on  to  the  inland  parts.  "  Naf- 
citur  ibi  plumbum  alburn  in  meditetraneis  regionibus,  &:c."  [b]  Ibid. 

[c)  It  muft  be  remember'd,  that  one  fide  of  a  medal  is  call'd  the  head,  whether  it  has  a  face  on 
it,  or  not,  and  the  other  fide  is  call'd  the  reverfe. 

Vol.  I.  Vt. 


156  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

CaflTibelan,  ajid  more  elegant,  the  horl'e  has  ftiape  ami  fpirit ;  and  there  is  fomething 
Komiui  in  the  turu  of  the  head  ;(«)  but  there  is  great  diacrence  in  the  countenance  of 
this  king's  coins ;  ibme  are  rude,  ond  of  coarle  dciign,  as  Nos.  4,  5,  6,  7    11.  which  may 
.therefore  be  lafely  pronovmc'd  to  be  coin'd  in  his  firlt  years,  either  before  his  intiniacy 
with  the  Romans,  or  before  he  could  get  the  artifts  into  the  ready  and  n\afterly  way  of 
(defigning  ;  fo  that  it  may  be  inferred  from  the  coins  of  Cimobelin,  that  he  did  not  leain, 
nj-  riril  bring  the  art  of  coining  from  the  Romans,  but  that  having  acqiiir'd  ibme  know- 
iJed£:e  that  way,  he  greatly  imp.rov'd  this  art.     Even  this  king's  coins  have  been  difputed, 
and  by  fime  infmuated  not  to  belong  to  the  Britilh  king  of  this  name,  tho'  his  name  be 
at  full  leneth  upon  four  coins  in  Camd.  tab.  I.  and  upon  three  of  the  fame  in  Speed  ; 
fo  that  thefe  fcruplfs  are  apparently  without  foundation.     The  gold  coin  attributed  to 
dradacus  by  Lamdcn  and  Speed,  has  the  fp.ca  well  placd  on  the  reverfe,  and  in  the 
hcadxht  horfe  in  full  fpeed,  as  well  defign'd  as  pofiible,  and  therefore  feems  a  dole  imi- 
tation of  the  Roman  manner.     That  of  Venutius  has  nothing  EritiHi  in  it,  but  that  the 
curls  of  the  hair  are  formd  of  many  contiguous  circular  rings  ftudded  with  balls,  which 
js  indeed  in  the  Britilh  ftyle.(Z')     Tho'  the  coins  of  Cunobelin  were  at  iall  lb  greatly  im- 
proved by  approaching  to  the  Roman  manner  ;  yet  thefe  improvements  feem  to  have  been 
conrind  to  his  own  dominions,  for  the  coin  of  Boadicea,  queen  of  Verolamium,  (if  it  be 
of  her)  has  nothing  Ro.nan  in  it,  but  the  letters  BUDUO  in  the  head-,  the  reverie  is  of 
the  fame  ftj'le  as  thole  found  at  Karn-bre.(c)     The  llh'er  coin  afcrib'd  to  Arviragusj(</) 
has  the  Britifli  wheel  form'd  by  eight  detachd  ftuds,(f)  but  the  horfe  is  voo  g  )od  to  be 
ancient.     Th£  next  coin  attributed  by   Speed  to  Galgacus,  (f)  but  by  Mr.  Vv^alker  {g) 
to  Cartifraandua,  has  nothing  of  our  coins,  but  the  wheel  form'd  like  a  large  ring  under 
the  hoi-fe.(;^)  As  to  the  word  Tafcia  found  on  many  of  the  coins  above-mention 'd,  whe- 
ther ii  lignines  the  taxation,  or  tribute-money  as  \Ir.  Camden  believ'd,  or  whether  fuch 
coins  of  "tribute  %vere  ever  us'd,  coins  being  the  enfigns  of  lil>erty  and  power,  not  of 
ilavery,  as  other  leai'ned  men  think,  I  do  not  here  enquire,  there  being  no  fuch  word  on 
Dur  Ccrnilh  coins.     Let  it  I'uffice  that  here  are  feveral  forts  of  coins  produced  ;  we  mult 
n.ext  fee  whether  we  have  not  fufiicient  grounds  to  think  them  Britifli,  and  yet,  not  the 
Ojdefl  of  our  Britilh  coins,  and  fo  trace  up  the  art  of  coining  among  the  Britans  to  its 
firlt  fimplicity,  where  we  may  poflibly  find  realbns  to  place  our  coins  of  Karn-bre.   Now, 
alJ  thefe  coins  from  Camden  and  Speed  are  found  in  Britain  in  feveral  places,  many  in 
ivimber,  and  the  very  fame  in  no  other  country.  (/)     Their  infcriptions,  and  leveral 
others  which  might  here  be  mention'd,  have  either  the  firil,  or  more  iyllables  of  the 
names  of  Britifli  princes,  cities,  or  people,  nay  Cunobelin  the  whole  name  ;  why  then 
ftould  they  not  be  Britifli  ?  {k\     If  there  be  honey  enough  in  our  own  hive,  what  need 
have  we  to  fly  abroad,  and  range  into  the  names  of  neighbouring  countries  and  kings  to 
fiid  out  refeiiiblances  in  found,  which  are  not  near  fb  cxaft  as  what  we  find  at  home  t 
Before  we  deprive  our  owrj  country  of  the  honour  of  coining  the  money  found  here,  one 
■woviid  think  it  but  reafonable  that  there  ftiould  be  produc'd  from  foreign  countries,  fam- 
ples  cf  the  very  coiiii  v.c  iind  in  Britain,  and  in  greater  number,  as  being  doubtleis  moi-e 
plenty  where  they  were  llruck,  than  any  where  elfe ;  but  tlieje  is  not  one  inftance  of  any 
number  of  coins  found  abroad,  which  are  of  the  fam.e  kind  as  what  we  find  iiere  j  altho' 
in  Roman  coins,  (wliich  were  not  coined  by  little  particular  ftates,  as  the  Britifli  mull 
have  been)  tliere  is  nothing  more  common.  It  is  very  wonderful  that  all  theGaulifli  coins, 
(for  inflance)  correfpondent  to  ours  in  metal  and  workmanfhip,  fliould  be  deftroy'd, 
and  not  one  appear,  or  be  dug  up  in  Gaul,  whereas  in  Britain  they  are  numerous,  which 
ruakgs  the  learned  Mr.  Wife,  though  dubious  at  other  times,  conclude  very  juftly,  that 

no 

(a^  See  No.  S,  9,  ic^  in  Speed,  and  12,  13,  p.  32. 

(i)  Ste  the  mane  ot  the  horfe  in  No.  XVllI.  XVI.  XIX.  XXI.  Venutius  in  Camden  xiv.  t^b, 
J.  in  Spetd  xv.  n.ig.  34.         (c)  Camd.  tab.  j.  No.  8.   Speed  No.  16,  p.  34. 

(^)  Speed  No".  17.    Camd.  ib.  No.  25.       (f)   As  in  No.  XX.  and  XXII.       (f)  pag.  35,  No.  18, 

{g)  Camden  pa^.  cxv.  {h")  Other  Brit,  coins  may  be  feen  in  Camden,  and  Speed,  but  thefe 
may  be  fufficient  for  our  p-jrpofe.         (i)  See  Camden,  pag.  110. 

(i)  It  is  held  by  fomc  that  there  were  no  gold  coins  coind  in  England  till  Edward  III.  but  this  it 
probably  a  mi^ake,  for  in  the  ."^r.xcn  and  firft  Norman  times  vaft  fums  were  paid  in  gold.  The  an- 
no .1  tribute  to  be  paid  by  theWelfli  and  Corn! fh  toAthelllan,  was  20I.  of  gold,  and  300I.  in  filver, 
befides  othtr  tilings.  And  in  domcfdjy,  particularly,  we  find  guld  in  ingots,  contradiftinguifti'd 
from  gold  coin,  viz.  Libras  auri  ad  perfum.— Libras  ad  nvimerum. — Muft  we  fuppofe  that  all  thi? 
ccin  was  of  Dizants,  or  other  foreisn  coin  ? 


The    BRITISH    period^.  157 

iip  counoy  has  a  better  title  to  the  coining  of  them  than  Britain. (^)    But,  I  don't  know 
how  it  comes  to  pafs,  it  is  tlvi  unhappy  faftiion  of  our  age  to  derive  every  thing  curious 
and  valuable,  whether  the  works  of  art  or  nature,  from  foreign  countries;  as  if  provi- 
dence had  denied  us  both  the  genius  and  materials  of  art,  and  fent  us  every  thing  that 
was  precious,  comfortable,  and  convenient,  at  fecond  hand  only,  and,  as  it  were,  by 
accident,  from  the  charity  of  our  neighbours.    That  the  liritans  had  both  gold  and  filver 
in  their  own  country,  is  plain  from  otrabo  and  Tacitus  j(^)  and  it  is  oblerv'd,.  lo  lately 
as  Camden's  time,  that  Cornwall  produc'd  both  theie  precious  metals;  (<:)  and  tl.i.  is 
confirm'd  by  the  reverfation  of  both  thole  metals  to  the  Duke  of  Cornwall  in  his  grants 
to  the  tinners.     Gold  difcover'd  here  I  have  leen,  found  among  tin  grains  in  the  pariflj 
of  Creed,  near  Granpont,  in  the  year  1753  ;  and  both  that,  and  natne  fiiver,  the  pro- 
duce of  a  Corniih  mine  in  the  parifh  of  St.  Juft,  I  have  now  in  my  keeping  ;  and  it  mull 
be  allowed,  that  people,  who  have  materials  ready  at  hand,  will  take  the  h;ll  hint  of  an- 
fwering  their  neceflities  therewith.     That  the  inhabitants  of  Kent,  and  the  adioining 
countries,  h:d  brafs  money,  Cajfar  plainly  aflerts,  as  we  have  leen  before,  and  when  one 
part  of  the  iiland  had  experienced  the  uie  of  brals  money    and  knew  the  art  cf  coinmg 
It,  the  neighbouring  Hates  muit  have  had  very  little  commun  cation  with  one  the  other, 
or  been  very  void  cf  unclerltanding,  if  they  did  not  perceive  the  equal  and  iuperior  con- 
venience of  gold  and  filver  money,  and  for  their  own  fakes  procuie  it  to  be  coin'd  where- 
ever  they  en  oy'd  the  happinefs  cf  proper  materials.     And  that  the  Britans  had  and  us'd 
money  coin  d  at  their  own  mint  is  really  plaiu;  becaufe  the  JRoman  Emperours  publiih  d 
a  fevere  edi^  to  lupprefs  all  fuch  coins,  and  to  fc,-bid  the  ule  of  any  money  in  Britain, 
but  what  was  ftamped  with  the  image  of  a  Casfar.(^)     If  it  be  iniinuated  that  the  Gaula 
brought  over  this  money  to  traffick  withal,  this  is  a  circumftance  wh  ch  wants  to  be 
prov'd,  nay  wants  probability,  for  it  could  not  have  elcapd  Calar.  and  the  gold  coins 
muft  have  been  in  greater  plenty  on  the  maritime  coalls  where  he  was,  than  in  the  inland 
parts,  the  merchants  from  Gaul  coming  to  the  fea-ports  and  ccaliis  of  Britain,  and  hav- 
ing nothing  to  do  with  the  other  parts  of  the  ifland  ;  (e)  but  Cafar  fays,  they  us'd  areif 
nummo,  and  takes  no  notice  of  any  gold  coin  in  thefe  parts,  which  I  think  may  make  us 
reafonably  infer,  that  the  Gauls  did  not  bring  over  any  gold  coins  for  merchandize  ;  much 
lefs  itill  can  it  be  imagined,  that  if  the  Gauls  did  bring  over  fuch  coins,  we  fhould  find 
them  infcrib'd  with  names  fo  like  at  leaft  to  the  names  of  our  princes  and  cities.     If  any 
of  the  fame  imprelT.on  and  legend  with  ours,  found  in  many  parts  of  Gaul  can  bp  pj  o- 
duc'd,  (which  at  prefent  is  far  from  the  caie)  then  let  it  be  difputed  whether  the  Gauls 
had  thefe  coins  from  us,  or  we  from  them,  both  fides  Handing  upon  even  ground ;  but 
'till  then  it  is  a  great  piece  of  partiality  to  foreigners,  to  deny  the  origin  of  thefe  coins  to 
our  own  country,  and  I  am  iurpriz'd  to  find  my  countrymen  fo  fluftuating,  and  indiffe- 
rent, not  to  fay  carelefs,  which  way  the  beam  may  fall,  in  a  point  which  concerns  fo  much 
the  hiftoiy  of  medals  in  general,  and  affeils  the  honour  of  their  own  country  in  particu- 
lar.' (]/9     "  To  fettle  the  age  of  our  Karn-bre  coins  is  perhaps  impofiible,  but  that  the 
Britans  had  and  us'd  coin.^  of  their  own  making,  and  that  the  Romans  forbad  the  ufe  of 
Britidi  money,  ha,s  been  obierv'd  before ;  for  which  proh.birion  there  could  be  no  reafoa 
if  the  Britaiis  did  not  coin  in  a  different  manner  from  the  Romans ,  rheref  re,  this  diffe- 
rent manner  of  flamping  their  money,  'tis  not  fo  likely  they  fliould  learn  ■  f  the  Romans, 
as  that  they  had  it  before  the  Romans  came  ;  for  after  the  conqueft,  the  Romans,  v^e  find, 
infilled  upon  the  head  of  Ca^far's  being  upon  all  their  coins  ;  therefore,  that  thefe  Kaj  a- 
bre  coins  are  prior  to  the  Roman  invafion  is  extremely  probable.     Further;  both  the 
Gauls  and  Britans  being  invaded  nearly  at  the  fame  time,  and  by  the  lame  general ;  the 
firft  conquer'd,  the  other  frighten'd  ;  both  of  them  would  either  have  had  fome  fymbol 
of  their  fubjeftion  in  their  coins,  if  they  had  been  ftruck  under  the  direftion  of  th'='ir 

conquerours, 

{a)  Maximo  fane  numero  hi  hac  infula  eruuntur,  adeo  ut  nulla  regie  pofleffionis  jure  magis  eos 
(niimmos)  fibi  yindicet."     pag.  228. 

{b)  "  Aurum  et  argentum  fert  Britannia."  Strabo  lib.  iv.— "  Fert  Britannia  aurum  et  argentuni 
et  alia  metalla,  pretium  vidtoriac."     Tacit,  vlt.  Agric.  chap.  12. 

(c)  "  Nee  ftannum  vero  hie  folum  reperitur  fed  una  etiam  aurum  &  argentum  "  Camd.  in  Comw. 

{d]  "  Cautum  fuit  Ediflo  Romanoium  Imperatorum  fevero  ne  quis  in  Britannia  nummis  uteretur 
nlfj  fignatis  imaginibus  Cjefarum." 

(e)  "  Neque  enim  temere  praeter  mercatores  illo  adit  quifquam,  neque  iis  ipfis  quidqnam  prast€r 
•ram  maritimam  atque  eas  regiones  qu»  funt  contra  Galliam  notum  eft."     Caef.  lib.  iv.  p.  76. 

(f)  Borlafe's  Antiquities;  p.  247  to  254. 


158  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

conqueronrs,  or  \'-ould  have  borrow'd  at  Icaft  Ibmewhat  more  of  the  Roman  elegance 
than  what  we  hnd  in  the  Cornifti  coins.     The  infcribd  coins  produc'd  by  Camden,  and 
Speed,  about  the  JuHim  age,  confirm  this  conjefture,  there  being  Ibmething  of  the  Ro- 
man air,  and  regularity  in  all  of  them,  but  in  ours  nothing  at  all  of  that  kind.     There 
is  one  other  utewhicb  I  (hall  now  mike  of  the  inlcrib'd  coins  beforemention'd,  and  may 
contribute  to  fettle  fome  particulars  relating  to  the  age  of  thefe  Cornil'h  coins  j  which  is, 
that  thefe  infcrib'd  coins  could  not  be  the  ftrlt  coins  of  the  Britifli  mint,  and  confequently, 
that  the  rude  unimcrib'd  money  found  in  all  parts  of  England  are  older  than  the  in- 
fcrib'd,  as  favouring  more  of  the  beginning,  and  infancy  of  the  art.    The  fcries  in  which 
nionev  \vas  firll  inti'oduc  d,  and  arrrv'd  by  degrees,  to  the  Grecian  and  Roman  perfec- 
tion, feems  to  be  this  :  firft  they  wcigh'.d  pieces  of  luctal,  then  found  out  the  way  of  itn- 
prefling  them  ditferenrly,  according  to  their  weights,  and  the  quantity  aiid  fort  of  cattle 
they  would  be  taken  tor  in  exchange^  fo  as  to  fave  them  the  trouble  <rt"  weighing  ;(a) 
then  they  imprels'd  fymbols  of  religion,  wai",  arts,  and  philofophy,   peculiar  to  their 
country- ;  then  came  in  the  heads  of  demi-gods,  and  princes  ;   and  then  infcriptions, 
more  certainly  to  determine,  the  age,   works,   and  perfons,  fignify'd  by  the  ccans.     As 
ibon  as  tiie  Gauls,  or  any  other  barbarous  nations  law  the  great  ufe  of  money,  as  it  was 
manag'd  among  the  more  polifh'd  parts  of  mankind,  'tis  natural  to  imagine,  that  people 
of  authority  would  endeavour  to  introduce  the  fame  convenient  way  of  exchange  among 
tlieir  own  people  ;   but  being  hafty,  and  impetuous,  to  have  the  thing  done,  were  not 
over  nice  in  die  choice  of  artills  for  doing  it.      What  firll  ar.d  principally  ftriick  them, 
was  the  ufe  of  money  5  to  have  the  money  coin'd  with  beauty  and  impreffion,  was  what 
had  no  place  in  their  firft  conceptions,  nor  entered  at  all  into  their  defign  ;  hence  came 
the  iirlt  coins  lo  rude  and  inexpreifive  ;  becauie  the  art,  tho'  at  full  maturity  among  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  was  forcd  to  pafs  thro'  a  fecond  infancy  among  the  Gauls,  and 
like  the  £^old  that  was  calt  into  the  fire,  could  not  come  out  a  better  molten  calf  than  the 
hands,  which  were  employed,  were  able  to  mould  and  fafliion  it.    The  money,  therefore, 
coin'o  at  firft  among  the  Gauls  and  Britans,  could  not  but  partake  of  the  barbarity  and 
ignorance  of  the  times,  in  which  it  firft  came  into  ufe,  and  the  figures  muft  have  been 
much  ruder,  and  more  uncouth  than  thofe  of  the  infcrib'd  coins.     Thofe  coins  then, 
wtiich  are  not  infcrib'd,  are  moft  probably  older  than  thofe  of  the  fame  nation  which  are 
infcrib'd  ;  infci-iptions,  or  legends,  being  a  part  of  elegance,  which  at  firft  was  not  at  alJ 
attended  to  ;  but  which,  after-ages  conftantly  pra6lisM,  confulting  at  once  the  conveni- 
ency  of  their  commerce,  and  the  glory  of  their  country.     If  this  inference  is  right,  our 
coins  at  Karn-bre,  and  the  like  Ibrt  in  Plot,  and  Camden's  Englilh  edition,  are  older 
tlian  the  infcrib'd  ones  produc'd  by  Camden  and  Speed,  and  confequently  older  than  the 
Roman  invafion."(^)     Now,  it  is  really  farprizing,  that  after  having  fo  minutely  exa- 
mined thefe  coins,  and  fo  clear'y  determined  their  antiquity,    Dr.  Borlafe    ftiould  have 
liopt  fhort  in  this  place  ;  without  the  llighteft  fufpicion  of  a  probability  which  their  ap- 
peai-ance  hath  veiy  ftrongly  fuggefted  to  me.  That  thefe  very  curious  coins  were  Britifh, 
and  that  they  exifted  before  the  Roman  invalion,  hath  been  proved  beyond  a  doubt.    But 
we  have  as  good  reafbn  to  fufpedl:  that  I'uch  coins   were  alfo  prior  to  any  voyage  of  the 
Phenici-ns  .to  this  illand,  whether  trading  or  colonial.     And  having  looked  fo  for  into 
antiquity,  another  glance  will  eafily  carry  us  to  the  period  of  the  firft  peopling  of  the 
illand.    That  the  Danmonians  were  a  people  from  the  eaft,  I  have  mentioned  as  a  very 
probable  opinion  :  And  that  thefe  coins  were,  alfo,  of  eaftem  origin,  may  be  concluded 
from  feveral  circumftances.     In  the  firft  place,  they  were  found  in  the  countiy  of  the 
DanTivonians,  who  were  confeffedly  more  like  the  eafteru  nations  than  any  other  race  of 
people  in  this  illand.  In  the  next  place,  they  were  found  on  Kambre,  in  the  middle  of  the 
ridge  o(  Karnbre- hill— the  confecrated  mountain  of  the  Druids.  Karnbre,  indeed,  was  the 
moft  remarkable  place  of  the  Druid  worfliip  in  all  Danmonium.    It  is  poflible,  then,  tliat 
thefe  coins  have  fome  relation  to  the  Druids.    That  they  refemble  the  coins  of  the  eaft,  is 
evident  from  the  veiy  face  of  them.    Many  of  the  coins  of  India,  at  this  prelent  day,  par- 
ticularly  the  rupee,  are  nearly  of  the  fame  fize  and  figure  :   And,  what  is  indeed  a  very 
ftliking  refemblance,  their  fymbols  are  exa<5lly  fimilar  to  thofe  with  which  our  Britifli 

fpecimens 

(a)  The  firft  money  us'd  in  Rome  was  of  plain  copper,  without  any  impreffion  till  the  time  of 
Servius  TuUus,  who  caus'd  them  firft  to  he  itamp'd  with  the  image  of  an  ox,  alhcep,  a  hog,  whence 
it  began  to  be  call'd  perunla  a  pecudi.     Pliny.— Jobert'S  Medals,  Engl.  p.  35. 

{b)  Borlafe's  Antiquities,  p.  256  to  z  j8. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  159 

fpecimens  are  charged  :  In  the  mean  time,  we  are  afl'ured,  that  thefe  figures  on  the  Indian 
coins  are  of  great  antiquity.  The  little  round  ftuds,  or  butt  )n  like  em  lolTments,  which 
I  have  defcribed,  aie  tlie  lame  on  the  rupee.  Nor  (hould  I  forget  to  mention,  that  the 
convexity  of  thefe  coins  is  another  point  of  fimilarity.  And  as  tu  their  quality,  both  the 
BritKh  and  the  Indian  are  of  pure  gold,  with  little  or  no  ailay.  Several  of  the  ornamental 
figin-es  are  of  a  military  caft — others  of  a  religious.  The  trees  are,  probably,  the  oaks  of 
tlie  Druids  :  And  the  globular  appearances  are,  poffibly,  repre  entations  of  the  fiin  and 
other  luminaries — the  great  ob  efts  of  worihip  ani;>ng  the  people  of  the  ealt.  {a) 

That  Phenician  and  Greek  coins  have  been  found  in  Devonfl"  ire,  I  have  been  ofterj 
infor.ned  ;  though  I  have  not  been  fortunate  enough  to  meet  with  fuch  fpecimens. (i) 

Thus  have  I  prefented  my  readers  with  a  delcription  of  the  Danmonian  commerce, 
{hipping,  and  coins,  from  the  very  earlieit  times  to  the  period  of  Casiar's  invafion.  In 
lome  inftances,  perhaps,  I  have  entered  too  much  intc  detail  5  in  others,  have  bt^en  too 
much  on  the  wing.  But  whiill  I  have  endeavoured,  in  every  inftance,  to  exhibit  clear 
views,  1  have  leldom  detained  my  readers  long,  except  where  the  poiiits  were  curious ;  or 
rapidly  led  them  from  one  topic  to  another,  except  whei'e  there  was  little  n»atter  for 
entertainment. 


S  E  C  T  I  O  N       IX. 

VIEJf  of  the  LANGUAGE  and  LEARNING  of  the  DANMONIANS,  during  the  BRITISIT 

PERIOD. 

I.  The  Danfnonian  or  Briti/h  Tongue,  in  its  firfl  Jfage — its  affinity  to  the  Irifh  and  the  Erfe 
— Words,  Compofuions — The  BritiJ}},  the  Irijh,  and  the  Erfe,  immediately  derii'ed  from  the 
Eaft — The  Danmonian  Language,  in  its  fecond  fiage  ;  or  the  Brittjh-P henician — IFordSf 
CompofitioKS — The  Danmonian  Language,  in  its  third  fage,  as  enriched  by  the  Greek — 
The  Da}iinonian  Language  in  its  fourth  fage,  as  corrupted  by  the  Belgic — Under  thefe 

'  modificalions,  the  Danmonian  Tongue  entitled  Cornubritijh . — II,  The  Sciences  and  the  Arti 
of  the  Danmonians. — III.  Seminaries  of  Learning  in  Danmonium — Concliifwn. 

THE  general  (late  of  knowledge,  at  this  obfcure  period,  is  a  fubieft  rather  hypotheti- 
cal than  hiitorical :  The  language,  and  the  learning,  however,  of  Danmonium,  may 
afford  room  for  curious  inveftigation.  The  Danmonians  have  been  reprefented  by  fome 
authors,  as  a  very  rude  people,  yet  pofleffing  minds,  like  other  favages,  lively  and  vigo- 
rous, and  capable  of  cultivation.  But,  whilll  we  are  allured  that  a  very  large  body  of 
men  were  maintained  at  the  public  expence,  in  conliderable  fplendor,  for  the  purpofe  of 
tlifieminating  knowledge,  we  fliall  not,  perhaps,  be  difpoled  to  credit  all  the  accounts 
of  Danmonian  ignorance  and  barbarity.  That  the  Druids  were  (killed  in  various  learn- 
ing, is  evident  from  the  atteftation  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  And  the  learning  of  this 
venerable  priefthood,  muft,  undoubtedly,  have  influenced  the  great  mafs  of  the  people. 

The  language  of  Danmonium  feems  to  be  the  firft  objeft  for  confideration .  It  hath 
been  commonly  believed,  that  the  original  language  of  the  Biitons,  was  the  fame  as  that 
of  the  Gauls  ;  though  few  have  proper  y  diicr  minated  between  the  fouth-wellem  Britons, 
and  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  ifland.     The  ancient  names  of  perfons  and  places  in 

Britain 


(«)  It  ftiould  feem  from  the  obfcure  notices  of  ancient  writers,  relating  to  the  Brithh  exports 
Imports,  that  the  firft  trade  of  the  ifland  was  carried  on  without  the  afTiflance  of  money,  and  in 


and 
in  the 
courfe  of  a  regular  exchange.  But  the  gold  coins  of  Karnbre  (to  throw  nothing  elfe  into  the  fcaJe). 
are  fufficient  to  outweigh  this  opinion  an  opinion  fo  light,  that  it  muft  fly  up,  and  kick  the  beam  ! 
{b)  Several  Phenician  coins,  1  underftand,  were  dug  up,  fome  years  fince,  at  Teignmouth; 
whence  the  inhabitants  conclude,  that  this  place  was  frequented  by  Phenician  merchants.  One  of 
thefe  coins  was  cafually  infpedled  by  the  Rev.  John  Templer,  cf  Lindrtdge,  who  regrets  that  he 
has  now  loft  every  trace  of  it.  Had  Mr.  Templer  been  able  to  procure  the  coin,  I  fhould,  doubtlefs, 
bave  been  gratified  with  a  fight  of  it ;  fince  there  is  no  gentleman  in  the  county  more  fanguine  than 
himfelf  in  wifhing  fuccefs  to  a  Hiftory  of  Devon.  To  his  various  knowledge,  indeed,  I  am  obliged 
for  moft  efTential  information :  And,  whilft  I  am  pleafed  with  his  polltenefs,  I  cannot  but  admire 
Ills  ingenuity.— I  have  heard,  alfo,  a  vague  report,  that  Phenician  or  Britifh  coins  were  found,  at 
Ixster,  a  few  y«ar»  ago ;  But  ray,  en<iuiri«s  f«r  thefe  coins  have  beea^.  hitherto^  fruitkfe. 


i6o  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

Britain  and  Gaul,  we  are  told,  have  an  exafl  refemblance.  This,  however,  is  a  miftakerf 
notion.  Not  even  the  name  of  the  aboriginal  Britons  was  known  in  Europe.  The  nu- 
merous tribes  or  nations  on  the  continent,  who  extended  themlelves  gradually  into  this 
iiland,  from  various  caufes,  carried  with  them,  as  was  moft  natural,  tlie  names  of  their 
nations  or  tribes — fach  as  were  known  afterwards  to  the  Romans  in  Gaiil  and  in  Ger- 
many, by  the  Armorici,  BelgcE,  Brigantes,  Al'.obroges,  Iceni,  and  Morini  :  But  among 
all  the  nations  fettled  on  the  continent,  or  afterwards  fixing  themlelves  in  Britain,  there 
never  was  once  heard  of  fuch  a  name  as  the  D^inmonii,  or  the  people  of  Danmon.  Nor 
was  fuch  a  name  ;is  Caeninu  ever  known  in  Europe  :  And  no  one  can  point  out,  I  believe, 
in  wha;  part  of  the  continent  of  Europe,  any  tribes  of  that  name  have  fettled,  or  were 
fettled  in  thofe  times,  when  the  Phenicians  lirlt  traded  with  the  Aborigines  of  our 
inand.(<7)  The  few  who  give  credit  to  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  with  refpcft  to  the  fettle- 
ment  of  the  firft  coionilts  in  the  South -Hams,  are  of  opinion,  that  one  dillrift  there 
retains  to  this  day  fome  traces  of  their  origin  ;  and,  conlequently,  may  throw  light  oiv 
tlieir  lano^uige :  It  is  the  diltrift  of  Armine,  the  very  name  of  the  country  whence  the 
Saxon  Chronicle  derives  them.  If  we  pafs  from  the  name  of  the  nation  (/>)  to  that  of 
tlieir  priefthood,  from  what  European  root  can  we  fatisfaftorily  derive  the  word  Druid  ? 
It  clearly  comes  from  Darui  or  Drui,  Hill  current  in  the  eait,  and  fignifying  a  prieji  or 
magician.  Sir  V/illiam  Jones  defcribing  the  great  e.npire  of  Iran,  tells  us,  that  the  ori- 
gin of  the  language  of  this  Empire  was  Chaldaic  ;  {c)  as  proved  by  the  words  Shemiat. 
heaven  ;  Meya,  water ;  Fira,  lire  ;  Matra,  rain  ;  Werta,  a  rofe  ;  And  the  word  Drui,  a 
magician,  is  alfo  of  Chaldaic  origin. 

But,  in  order  to  prove  that  the  aboriginal  language  of  Danmonium  was  derived  from 
the  eall,  let  us  recur  to  Ireland  and  Scotland.  That  the  Brtitfi,  the  Irijh,  and  the  Erfe, 
are  to  be  traced  to  one  fountain,  is  univerfally  allowed.  In  truth,  they  are  known  to  be 
dialects  of  the  fame  language.  This  is  a  faft  which  has  never  been  dilputed.  If,  then, 
we  can  clearly  deduce,  either  the  IriJh  or  the  Erfe  from  the  eaft,  we  ftiall  eftablifti  the 
ORIENTAL  ORIGIN  of  the  Britifli  or  Da/monian  language. (^Z)  That  there  was  an  eaftern 
colony  in  Ireland,  is  evinced  by  the  great  affinity  of  the  old  Irijh  with  the  language  of 
Hindoftan,  which  is  derived  from  the  Chaldaic.  Sir  William  Jones,  and  Col.  Vallancey, 
have  prefented  us  with  long  lilts  of  correfponding  words,  from  the  Hiridollanic  and  the 
Irifh  languages.  Sir  William,  as  I  have  obJerved,  defcribes  an  eaftern  empire  by  the- 
name  of  Iran  :  And  Eirin  is  the  ancient  name  of  Ireland.  And  "  unlels  (fays  Col. 
Vallancey)  there  had  been  the  doled  connexion  between  the  original  inhabitants  oi  Eirin 
or  Ireland,  and  thofe  of  ancient  Iran,  it  would  have  been  irapollible,  that  {o  great  aa 

affinity 

{a)  A  learned  correfpoi-.dent  obferves :  "  The  Af  rop^Sovfr  of  the  ifland  fetded  chiefly  in  the  weft, 
and  fonth-weft,  with  whom  the  Greeks,  and,  before  the  Greeks,  the  Phcenicians,  maintiiintd,  at  leaft, 
a  commercial  intercourfe :  And  of  both  thefe  people,  fome  tokens  yet  remain  in  and  about  here,  fuch 
as  y.P'ov  [j.-c-Axiroy ,  or  the  Eambead;  Tofowrri,  now  Totnes,  from  the  Greeks;  and  the  Promontory 
oi  Marie,  now  the  Start  Point,  from  the  Phenicians.  But  who  thefe  y?ior;^;««  were,  with  whom 
the  Greeks  and  Phenicians  thus  traded,  is  the  queftion :  They  certainly  did  not  come  from  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  ;  and,  probably,  came  from  the  e.ift  :  They  were  known  by  the  name  of  the  people 
of  (i)Dan  moft.  and  afterwards  called  Druids ;  though  this  was  rather  an  appellation  given  to  their 
priefts  ;  and  the  word  fignifies,  in  the  eajfem  lang  age,  a  foothfayer  or  wife-man.  Who  they  were, 
would  take  a  volume  to  explain— what  they  were,  is  very  concifely  defcribed  by  Julius  Cajar,  in  his 
account  of  Britain,  and  by  Strata.  They,  probably,  came  to  Britain  not  long  after  the  difperiion, 
when  the  Scoti  came  to  Ireland  and  Scodand.  The  Irifh  were  certainly  Baelim,  as  all  their  cuftoms 
and  language  evince.  I  fhould  think  the  Aborigines  of  Britain  were  alfo  of  the  Cathite  race,  though 
rot  of  the  tribe  of  Baal.'"'' 

(b)  The  name  of  one  of  our  rivers,  Cohmb  or  Columha,  is  fynonymous  with  the  Chaldaic  Iona. 
And  in  CoLUMB-JoHN  orCoLUMB-IoN  (fo  denominated  from  the  river)  we  have  the  Chaldaic 

word  itfelf.  ,     .  .         ,        ,  ,         ,  n  y        i 

U)  Rowlands,  in  his  Mono  Antigua  Reftaurata,  is  of  opinion,  that  the  people  at  firft  fpread  over 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  the  adjacent  hlands,  were  not  more  than  five  defcents  from  Noah. 
With  this  view,  he  endeavours  to  (hew,  that  our  language  is  one  of  the  primary  vocal  modes  pro- 
duced among  the  builders  of  Babel. 

(d)  And  confequently  prove  the  oriental  origin  oi  the  Damnonians. 

(0  Why  did  Dan  remain  in  fhips?  Judges  v.  17.  "  The  fpirit  moved  him  in  the  camp  of  Dan."  Jiidges  xi'ii.  25. 
••  The  fnorting  ef  horfes  was  beard  fromJJan."  Jet.  viii.  16.    "  Ban  and  Javanogcupied  in  thy  fairs,  &c."  K/ek.  xxvU.  iiu 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD. 


[6/ 


affinity  could  exlft  between  the  languages  of  the  old  Irifh  and  the  Sanfcrit.  In  the  my-^ 
thology  of  the  Bramins,  Syon  is  the  goddefs  of  lleep — her  feftival  is  kept  on  the  iith  iif 
of  the  new  moon  in  Juji.e — fhe  is  fabled  to  fleep  for  foUr  months  ;  to  fignify  that  the  rainy 
feafon  fetting  in  for  four  months,  the  care  of  Bijinoo,  the  preferver,  is  fufpended  as  im- 
material, the  rain  fecuring  their  crops  of  grain.  All  this  is  an  equivocation  on  the  twGi 
Iriih  words  Suati  and  Soinion,  or  mor-fohzion  -.  the  firft  fignifies  found  Jleep,  the  feconcj 
great  rain  and  tempeji :  and  this  again  reverts  to  the  Chaldean  Marhafon,  a  leafon  fo  called, 
becaufe  of  the  great  rains,  i.  e.  Odober.  Again,  Luhee  is  their  goddefs  of  all  kinds  of 
grain  :  her  fefti^^al  is  kept  in  the  month  of  Auguft.  Unnunto  the  unknown  (god) — is  in 
Irldi,  anaihinte.  Kartik,  the  conlecrated — Ij-ifli,  Creatach. — Sieb,  the  deftroyer  (death)— 
Irifh,  Sab  and  Saib.  And  Ogham  (as  it  will  loon  appear)  is  equally  a  Sanfcrit  and  art 
Irifli  word.  («)  With  refpeft  to  the  word  logan  (in  ul'e,  at  this  moment,  in  Devonlhire, 
as  well  as  Ireland)  Vallancey  makes  thefe  remarks.     "  Had  Dr.  Borlafe  been  acquainted 

witH 

Irljh. 
r  Btidh,  the  world  and  Its  creator 
\  Buaidh,  fupreme,  virtue,  divine  attribute 

Crifhean,  the  fun 

Cube 

Suan 

Soire 

Braine 

Kife-al 

Heart     &c.  &c.  &c; 

Col.  Vallancey  refers  us,  alfo,  to  the  ancient  Language  of  ^gypt,  which  Is  ftriklngly  fimllar  to  fhe 
Irifh.  "  If  an  affinity  of  l3ng\i3ge  (fays  he)  be  admitted  as  a  criterion  of  the  truth  of  the  Irifh  hif- 
tory,  and  of  t'le  ancient  Irifh  being  defcended  from  thofe  Scythians  who  had  conquered  Egypt,  ancf 
thither  carried  their  language,  arts  and  fciences  ;  there  cannot  be  a  flronger  proof  than  the  following 
lift  of  words  common  to  both.  The  Egyptian  language  is  certainly  one  of  the  mofl  ancient  in  the 
vVorld,  and  in  all  probability  an  crigiital  or  mother  tongue,  formed  at  the  confufion  of  Babel — It  is" 
in  a  great  meafure  preferved  to  our  times  in  the  prefent  Coptic :  Its  flru<3ure  and  conflitution,  differ^ 
fo  widely  from  all  the  Oriental  and  European  languages,  that  it  Is  impofTible  to  conceive  it  derivecf 
from  any  of  them,  (i)  Thefe  words  are  taken  from  the  Nomenclatura  E^ypto-Arablca,  publiflies 
by  Kircher,  and  from  the  Coptic  Lexicon  of  the  learrred  Dr.  Woide. 


Sanfcrit. 

ia)  Budh-dha 

Sijpreine  Being 

Grifhna 

A  polio 

Gapia 

Mnfes 

Syon 

God  of  Sleep 

Suria 

Phcebus 

Baroon 

Neptune 

Kefee 

Evil  Spirit 

Burt 

A  facrifice 

Egyptiace.  Lat, 

ath,  partlc.  neg. 
aiai,  adauEiio 
al,  lafis 
amoi,  utinam 
amre,  prir.cept 
amre,  pijior 
an,  partic.  neg. 
Sni,  pulchntudo 
anoni,  luxuna 
aoun,  rei  mohfta 
aouo,  ptgr.us 
aouon,  apcr'ue 
areh,  fr-vus 
areghj,  term'inui 
aghjan,  fne 
ariki,  q^i'.erela 
afo,  indulgenlia 
as  ebol,  indulgert 
ad,  praspos.  neg. 
facl,  folutio 
bol  ebol,  mitigari 
ban,  fcedus 
bots,  helium 
ouoi,  perfona 

(i)  Univ.  Hift.  v.  i.  p.  51s 


Hibernice. 
ath,  ut  In  ath  ricghadh 


mal  Horn,  apud  ms 

amir 

amra 

an 

an 

ana 

Onn 

urra 

uinneog,  parva  apsitio 

aire 

earrach 

gan 

aireac 


feneJiiA 


>  eas  bolold,  ittdulgeiit'ia.,  atjolutia 
ead 

>  eafboloid,  abfo'.uth 


bann 

buatlias,  tuSiorM 

aoi 


iriiiqiviiii 


Vot.  U 


1 62 


HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 


with  the  Irifh  MSS.     He  would  have  found  that  the  hgan-flone,  which  vet  retains  it* 
name  in  tlie  weft  of  England,  and  as  he  confefles,  is  not  to  be  explained  in  that  or  the 

Weinv 


Eg)-p.  _  Lat. 

adooui,  Tttane 
afli,  crucijigere 
aOiai,  multitude 
aflii,  petidcre 

baki,  urbs 

bari,  no-vkula 

bafhi,  vacca 

befnid,  ararlus 

bei,  aqua 

bel-ebol,  Ujuefcere 

be{h,  rudui 

bir,  /porta 

bighji,  naufragium 

bok,  fervui 

boki,  anc'tUa 

gallou,  •vefpertUb 

ebol,  tarn  Jecrjim 

cioul,  cervus 

emi,.  fciertia,  ccgn'uia 

mok  mek.  Jiudium 

dod,  nanus 

erous,  refponjlo 

dom,  adharcre 

erfei,  templum 

erto,  cubitus 

erOion,  fe/?;i 

efie,  f/i2//,  fuperb't 

eimine,  meine,  fignutn 

ermeine,  Jigr.are 

timeini,  cjier.ders 

eida,  pajcba 

cphleou,  -vamtas 

enouoi,  currus 

eflio,  fupra 

ehrei,  fupra 

tiehrei,  nobUls,  proteSht 

eghjeou,  na-vis 

thaibes,  'vi£loria 

thai,  coll'ts 

thelel,  cccidis 

thas,  JimUitudo 

thoud,  turbam  cogert 

thou,  -vcntus 

thoud,  ccngregcre 

thcd,  "j'tnum  aqua  m'txtum^  tnifcert 

thos,  finis^  term'mut 

thems,  fepelire 

hen,  terra 

ibi,  Jitire 

ioh,  ioch,  lur.a 

lot,  bordf.um 

piich,  dair.cn 

kadm'is,  morus  Egypiiac* 

kaldas,  fanclitas 

kame,  nigcr  ^ 

kelghje,  angu/us 

kadhed,  prudent 

kUf  frangere 


Hlb. 
ar  doi 

aifli,  punitio 
eis 
ais 

{bocan,  domus 
bodlajn,  adificium 
baris 

bois-ceil,  vacca  fylvcftr'is,  ce'ile,  fyl'u* 
bes,  pectin'ta  eeraria 

|bial 

buas 

barr,  bearra,  heart 

bach,  long- bach,  long,  navh 

beac,  buacal 

beac-arna 

galJun,  pajfer 

ar  abol 

ail 

eannh,  eamhainfi 

eamanmaca,  Jchola^  cdleg\um 

dod 

ar,   refpondit 

dom-lac,  i.  e.  baine  claba,  iac  ccagulaturt 

aifrion 

crtog,  polluXi  parvus  cubitus 

earafaid 

eas,  eaflabra,  verba  fuperba 

niionn,  Jignum.,  litera 

tiomna,  tcftamentum 

tiomana,  tradere 

iod,  an-iod,  an,  partic. 

feilios 

naoi,  navis 

uas,  cs 

ar 

tria 

uige,  uigh-inge,  c}a£ls 

talbh,  taibh  real,  laurus  viflorUe 

tul 

teal -mac,  parksdus 

tais 

tuidme,  turha,  cofij'piratb 

tua,  bcreas,  doi,  -ventus 

teide,  ccrgrcgath^,  nundina  mercatcrum- 

toide,  aqua  tita,  aqua  mixta.)  ying.'ice  toddy^  tOtiT 

doid,  pradiclium  ctmmixtut^iy  a  joinl  farni 
tus 

l^im,  mors 
ith 

ibh,  potus 
eag 

ith,  triticunt 
pocan 

ur.de  Cadmus 
keildei,  ctildei  ya«^(r/ 
cama 
kealg 

keadfaoi,  prudcptit 
kea» 


Sar» 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD. 


163 


Welih  dialed}-.  Is  the  Irifh  Logh-onn  or  ftone,  into  which  the  logh,  or  divine  t^k^azt,  waj 
laid  to  defceud,  when  the  Druids  confulted  it  as  an  oracle."    But  it  was  pretended'  that 

the 


Eg7p.  Lat, 

kat,  hitellectus 
kel  kii,  tinttnabulum 
loglij,   cejj'are 
ma,  da,  date 
met,  negativa 
maniak-efpe,  torques 
mokh,  affllfi'i'j 
nebi,  nature 
neph,  nauta 
neb,  domlnus 
pi-mounhou,  regie,  pi  ejl  art. 


las,  pilas,  Vmgu-a 

chukon,  tiatura 

ooch,  hna,  domina  maris 

ke,  et'iiim 

lemne,  fortus  mar'itmtis 

tomi,  v'lUa 

rouchi,  ;,cx,  -vefper 

fobi,  efobi,  far:Bl 

nead,  reglo  a  quo  vctitus  fpU\it 

niplioui,  ccelum 

niat.  Intclligeiuia 

OS,  multui 

oehTi,  tempus 

ncut,  Dcus 

OUrO,    ri:X 

onoini,  citbara 

outouet,  -viriditas 

ohi,  gnx 

rako,  adfcribere 

ran,  placcre 

rad,  t'rad,  pes 

rafii,  incthi 

reim,  irdigcna,  h;Cjla 

reninakat,  intelleSIu  pra^'tui 

res,  aufter 

re,  5(p/ 

red,  red,  ori>l 


Hlb. 

keacht,  'intelUgentla 

keol,  keolin 

leig 

mai,  mai  dhuin,  da  noiU 

mith 

muinke 

muc 

>  naolb,  na-vis 
naobh,  naomh 
muhan,  ut  deas-muhan,  regie  aujiralis.    Defmond. 

tua  muhan,  regi-.  horealis.     Thomond.  oir  mu- 

ban,  regie  orientalis,     Ormond.  iar  muhan,  regi* 

occidentalis 
lis 

eaichne,  calne 
eag 
keo 
Luimiieach,  "vel  Limerick,  portut  maritimus  In  Hlber- 

nia,  /.  e.  Laimri-oike,   juxta  aquam  (urbs)  vci' 

regio  juxta  ajuatr..{i) 
tuam 

reagh,  nox 

Sob-fgeul  hiftoria  fanHa,  fgeul  hijiaria 
neid,  •ventus 

neamh.     Tibetanic?,  neam 
nath,  Jcicntia 


pajiir 


nodh,  fupremus,  ticbilUfimui 

aire  princeps,  Arab,  bar 

aine 

uatat,  uathath 

aoi,  grex,  aolre, 

racam,  fcribere 

roiniin 

troid 

re  is,  Jpathalma 

reim  oilerac,  indigeng 

reimnacht 

reis,  feptentrio 

re,  Luna 

rad,  horizon,  rad  a  dearglus,  Aurora,  i.  f,  sriest  lur 
minis  rubicundi 

re,  JaElus 

reic 

rab,  rem  us 

rog,  pyrus 

foib 

fai 

faidoir,  proje&or  fagittarma 

,  fach,  fcribere 

iieropha.tis,  antiquum  nornen  Igyptlacum,  Gr^ce  rs^oy^a(j,y.ccr,Jj,  refpondenf,  videtur  fuifle 
Sacb,  quomodo  m  verftone  librorum  fcrlpturae  Coptica,  femper  reddetur  y^cc^./^.^crk-s,  Scriba.  Scrip- 
turae  pentus  Lmgu^  Egyptiorum  ttabad  defignatur  vorj/^a-'v  i.  e.  fapiens,  intelledu  pollens  :  dicuntur 

igjtur 

■iniLonZ"'  ''■'"°"' '°°""'  ''""''  ""  ""''""^  '"''^'  ^°'  '  '■'^°'  ^'^^  "^  ^«"-    «*""  "'^  i*'"""'"  '"'d  I-o-^a".  "ve!5 

Vol.  I.  .  X=» 


re,  facere 

red,  /Wt-^,  jpecies 

ribe,  //nr^'r  r.auticus 

rokh,  iticendum 

fabe,  fapiens,  {bo,  do.lrina 

fai,  plenttudo 

fad,  projicere 

fack,  /a/ia,  fachr;bad. 


?.^4 


HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 


^he  divinity  communicated  motion  to  this  ftone ;  whence  the  people  of  Devon  ufe  logan 
as  Jyjionym-ous  with  mo<ving. 

In 

Igltur  It^oy^xixuxres  qui  eflent,  ut  loquitur  Julius  Firmicus,  Sacrarum  lltcraium  periti,  i.e.  facb' 
vjbat  (Jablonlky.  Pant.  Egypt.  Prolegom.  p.  xciv.) — Hibernice  Scach-nab. 


Egyp.  Lat. 

fchai,'  Utera 

fe,  tertia  perfotia 

feini,  medicus 

foli,  -velum  muliebre 

dako,  perire 

damo,  cjiendere 

feth,  potens^  -vaUduf 

deu,  I'entui 

phachairi,  •veneficui 

phette,  arcui  cahfih 

phro,  hyems 

pheriou,  jplendidu^i 

pholph,  -verberart 

phoir,  /omnium 

phorgh,  di-vi/io 

pliodh,  fculptura 

oik,  panis 

op,  fcrs 

fhai,   nafus 

iai,  fejium,  fairp»  fefiiv'ttas 

(had,  fecare 
<he,  lignum 
fheebol,  exire 
flieri,  JiliuSf  fil'ta 

fhligh,  culter 

fhiai,  extenjio 

ihala,  trijiis 

fhiol,  gcns^  natio 

fline,  rete 

fliok,  fodere 

(hot,  duius 

jjhom,  ajias 

eh  an  fliom,  "ver,  inithnn  ajlatls 

phikohi,  cylindi-ui  textoris 

phos,   multus  ejfe 

phota,  atiut,  podei 

Chello,  fenex 

chellod,  -vaUis 

ched-ched,  in-vcjligare 

cheibi,  tegmcn 

chok,  mi'.itare 

chem  chem,  conjilium 

hel,  halai,  rjclare 

fihap,  judicare 

chefh,  cruciare 

hli,  a/'i(^uis 

hop,  chop,  tiuptia 

hra,  chra,  fades 

hob,  opus 

hot,  na-vigare 

hot,  oportct 

ghal,  depanere  apud  allquem 


Hib. 

fee,  libel/us,  fee  na  geug,  litera  ramnrum 

fe 

feanam,  medicare 

fe61 

deag,  mors 

pide,  praccptor,  dam-oide,  magijier 

faoth,    homo  gcnerojus,    -validus,    literatus.      Sethir 

fethreach,  homo  -va/idus.     Sith-be,  dux 
dea 

poc^re 
feite 

fuar,  frigid js 
forai  na  grian,  ortus  folis 
bual 
foir 
fairke 
foda 

6g.  panis 
upta 

fai-run,  najus,  run,  fades 
faoire,  la  faoire,  dies  fc/ii'vitatis,  fcire,  feflum^  pran- 

dium 
fadoir 

fae,  lignum^  faor,  carpentarius^  i.  e.  tabrlcator  llgnj 
Ihuibhal 
/har,  filius,  (hean  fliior,  filnts  natu  maximus,  {hear- 

each,  flius  equi 
fleigh 

fhi,  undc  Jhinim,  facere  extenfionem 
falach 
fiol 

fhcn,  fen 
foe,  culter 
flieod,  adamanthus 
famh,  Jol,  famra,  tejlas 
famh  fuinn,  fnis  ajiatis,  autumiiusy  far  an  farnh, 

-ver,  initium  aejiatis 
figheach,  unde  fighim,  texare,  fighedoir,  iextor 
fos 

putog,  rcEium 
cailleach 
calladli 
cead,  judex 

caban,  domus  (anglice  cabin) 
coga,  helium 
felm-lolr,  conciliarius 

eol-air,  accipiter,  ealan,  cygnus,  eit-ile,  volatut 
feibti,   qui  judical.,  judex 
ceafam 
eile 

coib,  dot 
cru 
obar 

col,  barca  navis 
cait-fe 
geall,  pignus 

,      '  $hd, 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  165 

In  tlie  mean  time,  the  Erfe  tongue  differs  fo  little  from  the  Irijl},  that  their  commoQ 
prigin  is  plain  :  They  are  both  equally  derived  from  the  eaft.  That  the  Britijh  language, 
therefore,  from  its  allowed  aflinity  to  both,  is,  alfo,  oriental,  feeras  to  be  a  fair  induftion. 
•  But  we  have,  hitherto,  examined  the  Britiih,  the  Irifti,  and  the  Erfe  as  oral  only  : 
They  fliouid  be  confidered,  alio,  as  -Turitte/i.  Let  us  enquire  in  what  chara6fers  thele 
ifland  diakfts  of  the  great  Afiatic  language  were  expreft,  and  whether  any  veftiges  of 
fiich  characters  are  traceable,  at  prefent,  in  Danmonium,  in  Ireland,  or  in  Scotland. 

With  refpedt  to  the  Danmonian  ckaraffers,  I  have  already  had  occafion  to  remark, 
that  the  Druids  were  not  averfe  from  committing  their  thoughts  to  writing ;  as  is  gene- 
rally fuppofed.  Not  that  in  matters  of  religious  or  political  concern,  they  ufed  a  cha- 
racter which  was  intelligible  to  the  vulgar.  Like  the  priefts  of  Lidia,  they  had,  doubt- 
lels,  their  fecret  letters,  which  the  common  people  regarded  as  myfterious.  Csefar  tells  us 
(in  a  paifage  on  which  I  have  already  commented)  that  the  Druids  "  publicis  pri-vatifque 
rationibus  [Gr^cis]  litekis  utantur.^' \a)  Here  the  word  Gracis,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
commentators  in  general,  is  fuppolititious.  A  learned  antiquary  makes  the  following  re- 
mark on  this  paffage.  "  We  have  fa:d  juft  now-  that  the  order  of  the  Druids  was  prior  to 
the  exiftence  of  the  Greek  word  L^ls  ;  and  yet  fome  perfons  will  be  apt  to  infer,  from  this 
laft  fentence  of  Cafar,  that  they  both  ipoke  and  wrote  the  language.  But  we  muft  not 
conclude  from  this  place,  (fee  Camden  s  Britaimia,  p.  xiv.)  that  they  had  any  knowledge 
ol  the  Greek  tongue.  For  Cafar  himlelf,  when  he  wrote  to  ^cintiis  Cicero,  (befieged  at 
that  time  fomewhere  among  the  Nert'ia/is)  penned  his  letter  in  Greek,  lejl  it  Jhould  be  in- 
tercepted, and  lo  give  intelligence  to  the  enemy — which  had  been  but  a  poor  projeft, 
if  the  Druids  (who  were  the  great  minifters  of  ftate,  as  well  as  of  religion)  had  been  maf- 
ters  of  the  language.  The  learned  Selden  is  of  opinion,  that  the  word  Gracis  has  crept 
into  the  copies,  and  is  no  part  of  the  original.  Hottoman  and  D.  Vcjfius  alfo  rejeft  it. 
And  it  was  natural  enough  for  Cafar,  in  his  obfervations  on  the  difference  between  the 
management  of  their  difcipline  and  their  other  affairs,  to  fay  in  general,  that  in  one  they 
made  ufe  oi  letters,  and  not  in  the  other,  without  fpecifying  any  particulars.  But  if  any 
man  is  of  opinion  that  a  word  fliould  be  retained  in  this  place,  the  emendation  of  Sam. 
Petit  is  very  ingenious,  that  we  (hould  read  crassis  inltead  of  gracis — though  not  for 
the  reafon  which  he  gives,  becaufe  he  conceived  them  to  be  rudely  formed,  and  not  equal 
to  the  elegance  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  charafters  ;  but  becaufe  they  were  the  thick  fqicare 
letters  which  themfelves  had  introduced  from  the  eall."  I  have  already  noticed  fome  mo- 
numental pillars  in  Danmonium,  which,  poffibly,  may  be  relics  of  Dniidifm,  infcribed 
with  tiiefe  oriental  letters.  That  fuch  exifted  in  Danmonium,  there  can  be  little  doubt. 
And  the  charadters  which  Sir  William  Jones  mentions  as  difcovered  on  the  walls  of  the 

ruined 

Egyp.  Lat.  Hlb. 

gho,  annunciare  gpch-aire,  jnag'fter  ceremonallum 

ghaph,  hyems  gamh-ra 

ghin,  aBio  ghnim,  agere 

ghinnau,  vifus  gnl 

ghoi,  va-vh  uige 

ghiphe,  pojfidere  gabh 

ghro,  'viBoria  cro 

flak,  Jtippiicium  fleaclit,  acJomth 

gratia,  reUgio  garait,  ja>;ciui 

The  Nomenclator  in  Egyptian  and  Arabic,  whence  moft  of  thefe  words  are  taken,  is  often  quoted 
by  the  learned  Dr.  Woide,  in  his  Coptic  Didlionary.  It  was  found  by  Petrus  a  Valle,  in  the  year 
1615,  near  Grand  Cairo,  in  the  liands  of  fome  peafants,  who  knew  not  its  value.  Peter  tranfmitted 
It  to  Rome,  where  Kircher  found  it,  and  publifiied  it  with  a  Latin  tranflation.  It  contains,  by  Peter's 
account,  many  old  Egyptian  words,  (acred  and  profane,  now  grown  obfolete-to  the  Egyptians  them- 
felves :  But  he  can  form  no  idea  when  it  was  compiled.  It  is  a  mofl  valuable  monument  of  anti- 
quity. Fcr,  we  know  as  little  of  the  Egyptian  dialed,  as  we  do  of  their  literary  charad>ers,  as  Count 
Caylus  obferves.(i)  Before  fhe  beginning  of  this  century,  we  were  acquainted  only  with  the  Hiero- 
glyphic. Since  that  period,  many  infcriptions  have  been  found  on  the  bandages  of  very  ancient 
mummies,  written  in  a  running  hand,  or  common  charadler.  One  of  confiderabie  length  lias  been 
engraved  by  the  Count.  The  original  is  in  the  library  of  St.  Geneveue  at  Paris,  where  1  was  in- 
dulged with  the  perufal  of  it."  "  (<?)  lib.  vi.  feft.  13. 

(1  j  Anliiuities,  v.  i,  p.  69. 


i56  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

ruined  palace  of  Jemfchid,  correfpond  with  the  crajjis  Uteris  of  Ca^far. — Bat  let  us  return 
to  Ireland. 

The  Ogham  writing  of  the  ancient  Irilh,  was,  probably,  the  fame  as  that  of  the  Dan* 
monian  Druids.  Colonel  Vallancey  has  illuilrated  this  point  with  his  wonted  learning 
and  ingenuity.  "  The  word  Oghaw  in  Irilh,  taken  in  a  general  fenfe,  fays  Vallancey, 
fignilies  whatever  is  facred,  mylterious  and  fublime  ;  purity  of  diction,  eloque'nce  ;  but 
is  particularly  applied  to  facred  and  7nyJ\,.rious  ^vritings.  Toland  fays,  the  word  originally 
meant,  the  j'ecret  of  letters,  and  from  lignifying  the  feo'et  of  ■-ivritiag,  it  came  to  lignify 
fecrct  avrithig.  But  Ogham  or  Oghma  certainly  fignified  leai-ning,  eloquence,  fublimity 
of  ilile  in  compofition.  Hence  it  became  a  proper  irame,  in  Irifli,  as  Ogina  Grianan,  who 
was  one  of  the  firft  of  tlie  Chaldsan  race.  As  a  charafter,  it  was  never  ufed  but  in  facred 
writings,  unlefs  in  an  epitaph  for  the  deceafed,  by  permiffion  of  the  Magi  or  Druids. 
From  its  uniform  combination  of  ftraight  lines,  many  have  thought  it  was  the  fame  as 
the  unknown  charafters  of  Perfepolis.  And  the  Perfepolitan  characters,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  learned  Millius,  were  facred  and  myfteiious.  '  Cum  Zoroailres  placita  fua  coriis 
mandata,  Perfarum  regi  Guflitafp  ti-adidiflet,  ilia  certo  loco  inclufit,  eique  facerdotes 
prasfecir,  prohibens,  ne  hrec  focra  \ulgo  manifellarent :  quare  etiam  facerdotum  Perfarum 
cultai  divino  vacantium  labia,  linteo  velata  erant.  Qui,  de  hodierno  ftatu  Perfia;  atque 
religione,  fcripferunt,  idem  referunt.  Quid,  quod  infcriptiones  Perfepolitan^e,  qux  adeo 
eruditos  excruciaverunt,  nota;  quaedam  Hiei-oglyphic?e  efle  videntur,  quibus  Zoroaltres, 
qui  prope  Perfepolin  cultum  fymbolicum  condiderat,  aliique  Magi,  praecipua  cultus  fui 
capita,  profanum  valgus  celare  ftudebant.'  {a)  That  learned  Orientalilt  Sir  William 
Jones  (who,  from  his  knowledge  in  the  Sanfcrit,  has  been  admitted  into  the  order  of 
the  Bramifis)  in  a  late  difcourfe  to  the  Academy  of  (.alcutta,  adverts  to  the  word  Ogham. 
He  proves  it  to  be  a  pure  Sanfcrit  word,  meaning  the  facred  or  uiyfierious  -tvritings  or 
language,  and  ufed  in  that  fignification,  in  the  books  of  the  Sanfcrit  :  He  alfo  obferves, 
that  the  Sanfcrit  language,  older  than  the  Hindu,  was  the  language  of  Iran,  and  of  pure 
Chaldaic  origin.  He  applies  the  ufe  of  this  word  Ogham,,  and  the  ancient  traditions 
q/"//'^  Irish,  together  with  the  authority  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  to  prove  that  thefe  iAands 
were  firft  peopled  by  colonies  from  Iran,  and  that  their  language,  their  citfioms,  and  their 
religion,  -ujere  the  fatne  both  in  thefe  iflands,  in  Iran,  and  in  Hindoftan — but — all  originating 
in  Chaldea.(<!')" 

After  this  examination  of  the  primitive  language  of  Danmonium,  both  as  an  oral  and 
a  auritten  language,  we  might  naturally  enquire,  in  what  points  it  refembles  its  eaftent 
original.  There  are  fome  authors  who  inform  us,  that  like  the  Chaldaic,  it  is  energetic 
and  fonorous.     Its  phrafeology  is  pompous  :  Its  1^-le  metaphorical. (r) 

Of 

{a)  Oratio  de  fabulis  Orientalium,  p.  77. 

{!>)  "  Iran  and  louran,  the  country  of  the  Perfians,  and  of  the  Tuiks.    Perfia  and  Oriental  Turkey 

appEed  by  eaflern  hiftcrlans  to  fignify  all  uj>pa-  Afa,  India  and  China  excepted."  (Herbelot)— Buc 

the  ancient  Iran,  I  believe,  was  of  greater  extent.  Sir  William  Jones,  in  the  difcourfe  above  men- 
tioned, proves  from  the  books  of  the  Br.^:->:ins,  the  exiflence  of  a  firft  great  empire  (before  the  Af- 
fyrian)  which  he  calls  by  the  name  of  the  kingdom  of  Iran;  whence,  he  fays,  a  colony  emigrated 
to  Hhuicjtan. 

(f)  The  feveral  proverbs  in  the  Cqrnifli  language,  that  have  been  tranfmitted  to  us,  all  favour  of 
truth'— fome  of  pointed  wit — fome  of  deep  wifdom.  Take  the  following  as  fpecimens  of  the  eaflern 
manner  :  Neb  na  gare y  g^Mfiyn  cell  rcjlona  ;  He  that  heeds  not  gain,  muft  expedt  lofs.  Neb  r.a  gare 
J  Sy^  ""  g'^'f'^  dcvcedir ;  He  that  regards  r.o~  his  dog,  will  make  him  a  choak  Oieep.  Gucl  yi» 
gnetha  vel  g'^cfen  ;  It  is  better  to  keep  than  to  beg.  Gmada,  rag  ta  koran  te  yn  gura ;  Do  good,  foF 
rhyftlf  thou  doft  it.  Tau  ta^vas;  Be  fiknt,  tongue.  Cc-ws  neba:,  cotvs  da,  ha  da  'vctb  coivfas  arta-y 
Speak  little,  fpeak  well,  and  v.-ell  will  be  fpoken  again.  Co'ws  nekas,  cows  da,  nebas  an  ye-vm  yw  an 
gvjclla;  Speak  little,  fpeak  well,  little  of  public  matters  is  befl.  Nyn  ges  gun  beb  lagas,  na  kei  hcb 
Czmern;  There  is  no  downs  without  eye,  nor  hedge  \'iithout  ears.(i) 


Der  taklow  minnlz  ew  brez  teez  gonvethes, 
avelen  taklow  broaz  :  dreffen  en  tacklow  broaz, 
ma  an  gymennow  hetha  go  honnen;  bus  en  tack- 
low minis,  ema  an  gye  fuyah  haz  go  honnen. 


{i)  BorlaTc'i  Nit.  HilU  p.  l\\- 


By  jmall  things  are  the  minds  of  men  difcoveredy. 
as  luell  as  by  great  matters :  becaufe  in  great  tbingSf 
they  -will  Jiretch  themjel-ves ;  but  in  jmall  matters^ 
they  fJkio  their  cwn  nature, 

Cvvrl, 


The     BRITISH    PERIOD. 


167 


Of  compofitions  in  the  Danmonian  language,  at  this  early  ftage  of  it,  we  might  vainly 
fearch  for  any  extenfive  relic,  at  this  hour  :  Nor  will  the  Irifli  or  Erfe  prefent  us  with  a 
lingle  literary  work  of  fuch  high  antiquity.  There  are,  however,  fome  Druidical  verfes 
extant.  The  Druids,  after  the  manner  of  the  Chaldeans  and  ^g}'ptians,  delivered  their 
inftruftions  in  verfe.  And  the  oldeft  kind  of  Britiih  verfe  has  been  called  by  the  Welfh 
grammarians  Englyn  Milur — of  which  the  following  is  a  fpeciraen  : 

An  lavar  koth  yu  lavar  gulr,  ■   . 

Bedh  durn  rever,  dhan  tavaz  re  hir; 

Ivlez  den  heb  davaz  a  gallaz  i  dir. 

What's  faid  of  old,  will  always  ftand  ; 

Too  long  a  tongue,  too  ihort  a  hand  j 

But  he  that  had  no  tongue  loll  his  land,  (a) 


Gwra,  O  Mateyne,  a  tacklow  ma,  gen  an 
gwella  krevder,  el  boiz  pideeres  an  marudgyan  a 
go  terman ;  ha  an  tacklow  a  vedn  gwayiiia  klos 
theez  rag  nevera. 

Po  re/,  deberra  an  bez,  vidn  heerath  a  feu  ;  po 
res  dal  an  vnr,  na  oren  pan  a  tu,  Thuryan,  houl 
Zetlias,  go  Gleth,  po  Diho 


We 

Do,  0  Kirg,  thofe  things  ivhtcb,  •with  the  hcjl 
flra-igth,  17-jy  be  thought  the  tocnders  of  their  time  j 
and  thc^e  things  ivill  gain  glory  to  thee  for  ever, 

PFhen  thou  comeft  into  the  tvorld,  length  of  forrovi 
fdloius  ;  ivhet  thou  bcgir.neji  the  ivay,  ''(is  net  known 
'  which  fide,  Eafi,  Weft,  to  the  North,  or  South. 


An  beys  yu  cales  kylden;  Tbr  world  is  an  hard  caravaifera.    Deu  ruth  ros  flour  hy  hynfe;  God  made 
a  rcje-foivtr  of  tky  j\x. 

[a)  "  The  Druids  couched  their  morality  in  triambics  of  rhyme,  the  better  to  imprint  them  upon 
the  memory.  They  were  above  all  things  careful  to  inculcate  taciturnity  or  fecrefy  into  their  difcl- 
ples,  that  their  djdriiies  might  not  become  vulgar,  and  to  fecure  to  themfelves,  as  much  as  might 
be,  the  credit  of  learning  and  wifdom.  Their  verfes  were  filled  with  ftrong  images  of  nature,  after 
the  Oriental  manner  j  always  concluding  with  fome  wife  fentence  founded  upon  long  experience. 
And  to  thefe,  in  all  probability,  we  are  indebted  for  moft  of  the  proverbial  expreflions  now  in  ufe. 
The  following  were  coUeded  and  committed  to  writing  by  Lhoivarch  Hen,  a  Prince  of  Cun:berlarJ^ 
who  lived  in  the  year  500,  and  are  purely  Vcn:dotij:t,  or  the  Brinjh  of  North  Wales.  For  tho'  the 
Druids  v-Tote  nothing  of  this  fort,  ytt  the  ancient  Chriftians  wiio  fucceeded  them,  did,  and  were  care- 
ful of  prefen-ing  what  was  good  and  laudable.  They  are  inferted  by  Mr.  Rctv'ands,  in  his  truly 
valuable  work  of  the  Mona  Jr.tijua,  but  without  any  tranflation  5  nor  does  it  appear  by  his  remarks 
that  they  were  fufficjently  underllood  by  that  (otherwife)  very  learned  author.  Two  very  worthy 
gentlemen,  well  verfed  in  the  language,  have  been  confulted  concerning  the  meaning  of  them ;  wliofe 
literal  fenfe  of  them  is  given  belo  v.  But  we  cannot  be  of  opinion,  with  thofe  gentlemen,  '  that  the 
firfl  two  lines  of  each  triambic  were  never  defigned  to  have  any  connexion  with  the  third,  but  were 
intended  merely  to  furnifh  rh)  me  to  it :'  Becaufe,  fuppofing  the  three  firft  triambics  to  allude  to  the 
correiftive  difcipline  of  the  Druids,  which  cannot  well  be  doubted,  the  connexion  is  eafy  j  and  there 
is  as  much  of  it  in  thefe  and  the  three  laft,  as  the  oriental  poets  generally  furnifh. 
Druidical  Verses. 


I. 
Marchweil  Bedw  briclas 
A  dyn  vynhroet  o  wanas, 
Nac  addev  dy  rin  i  was. 

11. 
Marchweil  dervs^  mwynllwyn, 
A  dyn  vynhroet  o  Gatwyn, 
Nac  addev  dy  rin  i  vorv/yn. 

III. 
Marchweil  derw  deiliar, 
A  dyn  vynhroet  o  garchar, 
Nac  addev  dy  rin  i  lavar. 

IV. 
lyrl  mynydd,  Hiidd  efcyt, 
Odyd  amdidawr  o'r  byt, 
Rhybydd  i  drwch  ni  weryt. 

V. 
lyri  mynydd,  pifc  yn  rhyt, 
Cyrchyt  kanv  kilgrwm  cwmclyt, 
Hiraeth  am  varw  ni  weryt. 

(1)  Pryce's  Ar<U!Wel. 


Literal  Sense. 
I. 
Strong  reds  of  green  birch 
Wiil  draw  my  foot  out  of  the  hold; 
Reveal  not  thy  fecret  to  a  youth. 

II. 
Strong  rods  of  oak  in  a  grove 
Win  draw  my  foot  out  of  the  chain*. 
Reveal  no  fecret  to  a  maid. 

III. 
Strong  rods  of  leafy  oak 
Will  draw  my  foot  out  of  prlfon  : 
Reveal  not  thy  fecret  to  a  blab. 

IV. 
Mountain  fnow,  fwift  deer. 
Scarce  any  in  the  world  cares  for  me  j 
Warning  to  the  unlucky  faveth  not. 

V. 
Mountain  fnow,  fifh  in  a  ford. 
The  lean  flag  feeks  the  warm  vale  : 
A  lonf'n^  for  death  faveth  not.. 


i68  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

We  have  alio  Come  Druidical  verfes  concerning  the  "  Fntal-ftone,  call'd  fo,  as  liipposM  td 
contain  the  fate  of  the  Irilh  Royal  Family.  On  this  the  fiipreme  Kings  of  Ireland  ufed 
to  be  inaugurated  on  the  lull  of  Tarah,  and  the  ancient  Irilh  had  a  perfuafion,  that  in 
what  countr)'  foever  this  llone  remain'd,  there  one  of  their  blood  was  to  reign. («)'  The 
fatal-il^one  was  encloled  in  a  wooden  chair,  and  thought  to  emit  a  (bund  under  the  right- 
ful king,  but  to  be  mute  under  one  of  a  bad  title.  The  Druid  Oracle  concerning  it  is 
in  thei'e  words  : 


♦'  Cioniodh  fcuit  faor  an  fine 
Man  ha  breag  an  Fais  dine 
Mar  a  bh  fuighid  an  Lia  fail 
Dlighid  riaitheas  do  ghabhail 


Except  old  faws  do  feign, 
And  wizard  wits  be  blind, 
The  Scots  in  place  mull  reign. 
Where  they  this  ftone  ihall  iind. (/?-)' 


In  the  Erfe  language,  tlie  poems  of  Oflian,  though  the\)roduci  of  a  much  later  age, 
are  deeply  tinftiued  with  the  oriental  genius.  The  following  palTages  will  give  us  a  fine 
relifh  of  the  eallern  manner.  Thi>  addreG  to  the  moon  has  an  uncommon  obfcurity  of 
allulion:  "  Whither  doft  thou  retire  from  thy  courle,  when  the  darknefs  of  thy  counte- 
nance grows  ?    Haft  thou  thy  hall,  like  Ofiian  ?    Dwelleft  thou  in  the  fliadow  of  grief  ? 

Have 


LiTrR.-\L  Sekse. 
VI. 
Mountain  fnow  the  wind  will  difperfe. 
Broad  the  fplendent  moon,  the  dock  is  grecri: 
Scarce  a  knave  will  want  a  pretext. 


Druidical  Verses. 
VI. 
Eyrl  mynydd,  gwint  ae  tawl, 
Llydan  lloergan,  glafs  tavawl, 
Odyd  dyn  diried  dihawl. 
Defcrip.  of  Stonehengc,  &c.  p.  64,  65,  66. 

(a)  "  This  ftone  was  fent  into  Scotland,  where  it  continued  as  the  coronation  feat  of  the  Scottlffi 
lungs;  till  in  the  year  1300,  Edward  the  Firrt  of  England,  brought  it  from  Scone,  placing  it  under 
the  coronation  chair  at  Weftminfter.  The  Irifti  pretend  to  have  memoirs  concerning  it  for  above 
aooo  years."     Tol.  p.  103. 

{b)  "  After  the  example  of  the  antients,  [the  Chaldeans,  Etryptlans,  and  Afiyrlans)  the  Druids 
compriz'd  all  the  particulars  of  thuir  religion,  and  morality  in  hymns,  the  number  of  vs^hich,  as  Mr. 
Martine(i)  fays,  was  fo  great  that  the  verfes  which  compofed  them  amounted  to  20,00c.  In  jufti- 
fication  of  this  part  of  their  difcipline,  it  muft  be  obferv'd  that  the  fubje<£V  m.atter  of  verfes  is  eafier 
learnt  by  means  of  the  metre,  and  more  e-ifily  retained,  than  what  is  exprefs'd  in  profe.  Of  the 
particular  forts  of  verfes  which  the  bards  us'd,  there  is  an  account  in  the  ingenious  Dr.  John  David 
Rhys's  Rudiments,  &c.  of  the  Britifh  language ;  (2)  and  Mr.  E.  Lhuwyd  is  there  of  opinion,  '  that 
the  oldeft  kind  of  Britifli  verfe  is  that  call'd  by  Rhys's  Grammar  Englyn  Milur,  and  th.at  'twas  iit 
this  fort  of  metre  the  Druids  tauglit  their  difciples,  of  wliich  tiiere  are  fome  traditional  remain";  to 
this  day  in  Wales.(3)  Cornwall,  and  Scotland,"  and  a  farther  teftimony  the  verfes  themfelves  bear 
to  this  truth,  in  that  they  geiierally  contain  fome  divine  or  moral  doftrine.  (4)  As  the  bnrds  (an 
inferiour  clafs  of  Druids)  were  remarkable  for  an  extraordinary  talent  of  memory  j  (5)  this  teaching 
memoriter,  and  by  verfe,  was  likely  their  office,  whilir  the  fuperiours  of  Ti>e  order  were  employ  d 
in  higher  fpeculations,  or  the  more  fecret  and  folemn  parts  cf  duty."  Bcr'.jjVs  Ar.t:(juitiesy  p.  83,  84. 
*'  The  fort  of  verfe  I  find  moil  common  among  our  oldeft  remains,  is  that  called  Englyn  Milur  in 
Jo.  Dav.  Rhy«'s  Grammar,  p.  1S4.  And  as  I  have  (tho'  but  rarely)  heard  the  fame  in  the  /hire  of 
Argyle  in  Scotland,  and  alfo  in  Cornwall,  I  am  apt  to  conclude  it  one  of  the  moft  ancient,  if  not  the 
very  oldeft  fort  of  verfe  we  ever  had ;  and  that  it  was  in  this  fort  of  metre  the  Druids  taught  theii* 
difciples ;  of  whom  Casfir  fays  :  jid  bos  tn^gnui  adolejccntlum  rumerus  D!fci/>linie  caufa  concurrit. — li 
certo  anni  tempore  in  finibus  Carnutum,  qua  regie  tctius  Gallia  media  tabetur,  conjidunt,  in  kco  cnrtficrjio,- 
Sue  omr.es  undique  conver.iunt ;  eortimque  judiciis  decrttifqi-.e  parent.  Difciplina  in  Britannia  repeita  at- 
que  ir.de  in  Galliam  tranjlata.,  ejje  exijiimatur .  Et  nunc  qui  diligintiui  earn  rem  cognofcere  iioiur.t,  pli- 
rumque  illo  dij'cendi  caujfi  proficiiCuntur,  Druides  a  belh  abfjj'e  ccnjueverunt.,  neque  trihuta  utm  cum  reli- 
qui:  pendunt  ;  militia  vacaiiouem  cmniumque  rerum  babent  immunitatem,  Tantis  excitati  pramiis  &  ftra 
fpcnte  multi  in  Dij'cipiinsm  convertiunt,  £f  a  propinjuii  parentibufque  mittuntar.  Magnum  ibi  numerum' 
verfuum  edifcere  dicuntnr.  Itaque  nainuUi  annos  vicenos  in  difciplina  permanent,  (j^c.  Cxi.  de  BeHo 
Gall.  1.  vi.  That  this  it  ancient  enough  to  have  been  the  verfe  ufed  by  the  Druic*^,  is  manifeft  from 
there  being  fome  traditional  remains  ei  it  at  this  day,  in  Wales,  Cornwall,  and  Scotland;  though  it 
be  immemorial  when  any  fuch  were  laft  made.  And  that  it  really  was  ufed  by  tlrem  feems  aJfo 
highly  probable,  as  a  great  number  of  the  Welfli  Englyns  of  this  fort  have  always  fome  dodrir.sjfci- 

vine 

(1)  ta  Relig.  dcCaul.  iU.  p»g.  59.  fs)  See  ArcSiol.  Brit.  pa^.  250. 

(3)  A.  D.  1743.  At  Bala  in  McHoneilifhirc  an  annus!  meeting  and  fcftival  of  the  Bsrds  is  celebrated.  Thtre  affemble 
(ogeiher  60  or  70  harpers.  In  all  tliis  company  of  mulkal  poets  Tcarcc  Tix  of  the'ji  can  read,  aud  yet  loice  of  lh:!li  have  fuch 
(  poetic  gcnios  that  their  compofitions  have  both  fpihl  and  invention. 

(4)  Lbuyd.  2^1.  (^).  Cahrochiu'i  HiR.  Ptietiqae.  lib,  iii.  chzp.  iv. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  i6^ 

Have  thy  Jijiers  fallen  from  hea-ven  ?  Are  they  who  rejoiced  with  thee  at  night  no  more  ■• 
Yes,  they  have  fallen,  fair  light !  And  thou  doft  often  retire  to  mourn  !" — Are  we  not 
inftantly  reminded  of  that  grand  apoftrophe — "  Ho^m  art  tkou  fallen  from  heaven,  O 
Lucifer,  fon  of  the  morning  ?"  The  heavenly  bodies  appear  to  have  been  the  commort 
objefts  of  veneration  both  in  Scotland  and  in  the  eail.  The  hofpitality  of  an  Arabian 
princefs,  is  thus  praifed  by  a  poet  of  Arabia :  "  The  ftranger  and  the  pilgrim  well 
know,  when  the  Iky  is  dark  and  the  north  wind  rages,  that  thou  art  a  fun  to  them  by 
da)',  and  a  moon  in  the  cloudy  night."(fl)  In  the  lame  manner,  OlHan  :  "  He  was  like 
the  ftrong-beaming  furt."(^)  The  following  image  feems  more  in  the  ftyle  of  an  Ara- 
bian, amidft  his  thirfty  defarts,  than  of  a  poet  of  the  Highlands  :  "  Before  them  rejoiced 
the  king,  as  the  traveller,  in  the  day  of  the  fun ;  when  he  hears,  far  rolling  around,  the 
murmur  of  molfy  ftreams ;  ftreams,  that  burft,  in  the  defprt,  from  the  rock  of  roes.'C) 
The  traveller  and  the  hofpitable  chieftain,  were  equally  the  theme  of  the  Highland  and 
the  Arabian  poet.  And  the  warrior  was  defcribed  by  both,  in  the  fame  figurative  terms. 
The  Arabian  warrior  advancing  at  the  head  of  his  army,  is  "  compared  (fays  Sir  W. 
Jones)  to  an  eagle  failing  through  the  air,  and  piercing  the  clouds  with  his  wings." 
Thus  the  leader  of  OfTian,  "  comes  like  an  eagle,  from  the  fkirt  ot  his  fqually  wind  !  Iri 
his  hand  are  the  fpoils  of  foes  V'^d)  This  allulion  is  frequent  in  Offian.  "  From  thy 
Vales  come  forth  a  race,  fearlefs  as  thy  llrong- winged  eagles  ;  the  race  of  Colgorm  of 
iron  fhields,  dwellers  of  loda's  hall."(^)  **'  Erin  (f)  i»le  around  him  ;  like  the  found 
of  eagle-wing. "(^)  But  love  was  the  moft  prolific  fubjecf.  The  poets  of  Arabia  com- 
pare the  foreheads  of  their  miftrelfes  to  the  morning,  their  locks  to  the  night,  their  faces 
to  they««,  or  moon,  thei:;,cheeks  to  rofes,  their  teeth  to  pearls,  hail-ftones,  or  fnow-drops, 
their  eyes  to  the  flowers  of  the  narcillus,  their  dark  coloured  hair  to  hyacinths,  their  lips 
to  rubies,  the  color  of  their  breafts  to  fno^uj,  their  ll^ape  to  the  pine-tree,  their  ftature  to 
the  javelin. (i6)  And  the  blue  eyes  of  an  Arabian  woman  bathed  in  tear?,  are  compared 
to  violets  dropping  with  dew.(z)  And  thus,  Offian  :  "  His  i>jhite-bofomed  daughter,  fair 
as  a  fun-beam  !''(k)  "  No  more  I  fee  thee,  bright  as  the  rmon  cm  the  weltern  wave  !"(0 
"  That  fun -beam!  that  mild  light  of  love  !  It  foon  approached.  We  faw  the  fair.  Her 
nvbite  breaft  heaved  with  fighs.  The  wind  was  in  her  loofe  dark  hair !  Her  roiy  cheek 
had  tears. "(ot)  "  Her  breaft  was  whiter  than  the  down  of  Cana — her  eyes  were  two 
ftars  of  light  !  Her  face  was  heaven's  bow  in  ihowers — her  dark  hair  flowed  round  it  like 
the  ftreaming  clouds  !"(=^)  "  Daughter  of  ftrangers  (he  faid)  young  pine  of  Inifliuna  !"(£?) 
And  Malvina,  lamenting  over  Ofcar,  fays  :  "  I  was  a  lo--vely  tree  in  thy  prefence,  Ofcar, 
with  all  my  branches  round  me  !"  "  Hunters,  from  the  moily  rock,  faw  ye  the  blue  eyed 
fair  ?  Are  her  fteps  on  grafly  Lumon,  near  the  bed  of  roes  ?"(/)  "  The  daughter  of 
Starno  came  with  her  voice  of  love — her  blue  eyes  rolling  in  tears. "(q)  «'  She  left  the 
hall  of  her  fecret  fign !  fhe  came  in  all  her  beauty,  like  the  moon  from  the  cloud  of  the 
eaft.  Lovelinefs  was  around  her,  as  light.  Her  fteps  were  the  mufic  of  fongs.  She  faw 
the  youth  and  loved  him  !  Her  Hue  eye  rolled  on  him  in  fecret  !"(r)     When  we  confider 

the 

vine  or  moral,  !h  the  conclusion ;  the  reft  being  often  Infignificant,  and  fervhig  only  as  metre  there- 
tinto.     And  of  tliis  kind  are  thofe  very  ancient  Epigr  •«"3  called  Englynycn  ur  eirj  :  as, 

Eiry  mynydh,  guyn  pob  ty  j 

Kynnevin  bian  a  %any  : 

Ni  dhaiu  da  o  dra  y^yfzy.  (l) 

£iry  mynydh,  guynt  ae  taul, 

Lhydan  Ihoergan,  glas  tavaul; 

Od'id  dyn  dir'ied,  dihaul  (2) 

E^ry  mynydh  hydh  ym  mron ; 

Go%uiban  guynt  yu%  blaen  on  : 

Trydydh  troed  y  bin y  fen,   (3) 
Dr.  Pryce's  Archaeol.  p.  54. 

{a)  See  Poems  by  Sir  William  Jones.  {b)  Oflian,  vol.  i,  p.  23.  {c)  OfTian,  vol.  2,  p.  152, 
{d)  Oflian,  vol.1,  p.  17.  {e)  p.  23.  (f)  Eirin,  Iran,  Ireland.  (g)  Oflian,  vol.2,  p.  92. 
(A)  See  Jones's  Poems,  Eflay  i,  p;  168.  (j)  ibid.  {k)  Oflian,  vol.  i,  p.  23.  (/)  p.  56. 
(w)  p.  276.  («)  p.  24.  (0)  vol.  2,  p.  146.  (/>)  Offian,  vol.  2,  p.  136.  See  Solomon's  Song. 
(f )  Oflian,  vol.  i,  p.  266.         (r)  ibid. 

(i)  —  Melior  vigilantia  fomiro,       '■•.]  Home  nesnani  litis  occafioB*  nen  rar«fcii.       (j)  *«ni  b»e«k».  ttitias  pei  «fte 

Vol.  I,  V 


i-o  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

the  difference  of  objefts  which  nature  prefented  to  the  view,  in  Arabia  and  in  the  High- 
lands, and  when  we  refleft  that  the  poets  of  both  countries  were  alike  remarkable  for 
iimply  delcribing  what  they  faw  and  felt,  we  muft  necellarily  make  allowances  for  much 
Arabian  imagery  not  occurring  in  the  Highland  poetry.  But,  after  thefe  allowances,  we 
cannot  but  admire  the  limilarity  of  Ollian,  to  the  eaftern  poets,  in  various  illuftrations  of 
his  fubjeft,  and  fee  every  where  a  ftrong  likenefs  in  their  llyle  and  manner.  The  Arabs 
and  die  Highlanders  not  only  refembled  each  other  in  their  poetry,  but  in  their  attach- 
ment to  the  perfons  of  their  poets,  {a)  "  The  fondnefs  of  the  Arabians  for  poetry  (fays 
Sir  WilUam  Jones)  and  the  refpe6l  which  they  fliew  to  poets,  would  be  fcarce  believed, 
if  we  were  not  afTured  of  it  by  writers  of  great  authority.  The  principal  occafions  of 
rejoicing  among  them,  were  formerly,  and  very  probably  are  to  this  day,  the  birth  of  a 
boy,  the  fouling  of  a  mare,  the  arrival  of  a  gueft,  and  the  rife  of  a  poet  in  their  tribe. 
When  a  young  Arabian  has  compofed  a  good  poem,  all  the  neiglibours  pay  their  com- 
pliments to  his  family,  and  congratulate  them  upon  having  a  relation  capable  of  record- 
ing their  anions,  and  of  recommending  their  virtues  to  pollerity."  And  thus,  the 
Highlanders,  fond  of  militaiy  fame,  and  attached  to  the  memory  ot  their  anceftors,  de- 
lighted in  traditions  and  longs  concerning  the  exploits  of  their  nation,  and  efpecially  of 
their  own  particular  families.  In  every  Highland  clan  or  tribe,  therefore,  thofe  who 
were  qualified  to  tranfmit  to  pofterity  the  acStions  of  heroes,  were  as  highly  refpefted  as 
amons:  the  Arabs.  Oflian  compares  the  "  mufic  of  bards  to  the  dews  of  the  morning  on 
the  hill  of  roes." 

Thus,  in  io  late  an  age  as  that  of  OfTian,  the  Afiatic  mufe  {b)  illuminated  the  High- 
lands :  yet  Danmonium  was  foted  to  enjoy  but  a  fhort  time  the  pure  fplendor  of  eaftern 
poetry.  In  the  receffes  of  the  Highlands,  it  was  long  preferved.  But,  Danmonium  loft 
much  of  her  primitive  orientalifm,  as  ftie  became  the  mart  of  commerce,  or  the  feat  of 
war.     Her  connexion  with  the  Phenicians,  -was  not  favourable  to  literature. 

The  Phenicians,  it  is  true,  fpoke  nearly  the  iame  language  as  the  people  of  Devonfliire 
and  Cornwall.  The  Britidi,  the  Irifh,  the  Eife,  and  the  Phenician,  were  branches  of 
the  fame  oriental  tree  :  They  were  dialedls  of  the  fame  Afiatic  language.  But  the  Phe- 
nicians, from  their  mercantile  connexions  and  various  intercourfe  with  half  the  nations 
of  the  world,  foon  permitted  their  dialeft  to  be  corrupted  by  foreign  words  and  phrales : 
In  this  adulterated  ftate  they  introduced  it  iiito  Danmonium. 

About  the  time  of  the  fettlement,  therefore,  of  the  Phenicians  in  this  weftern  part  of 
the  illand,  we  may  fix  the  fecond  ftage  of  the  Britifli  language,  as  fpoken  in  Devon  and 
Cornwall.     There  are  many  who  reprefent  the  ancient  language  of  Danmonium  as  no 

othei' 

{a)  Poems,  p.  173. 

{b)  Dr.  Knox  (the  moft  fenfible,  fpinted,  and  elegant  of  all  ourEnglifli  eflaylfts-)  informs  us,  tbat 
*'  a  refemblance  has  been  pouited  out  by  feme  ingenious  critics  between  the  Gothic  and  Oriental 
poetry,  in  the  wild  enthufiafm  of  an  irregular  imagination.  And  they  have  accoimf.d  for  it,  by 
fuppofing,  with  great  probability,  that  in  an  einigration  of  the  Afiatics  into  Scandinavia,  the  Eaftern 
people  brought  with  them  their  national  fpir't  of  poetry,  and  communicated  it  to'  tlie  tribes  with 
whom  they  united."  There  is  no  other  way,  indeed,  of  accounting  for  this  refemblance.  For,  the 
Arabian  or  the  Perfian,  "  who  is  placed  in  a  climate  where  the  ferenity  of  the  v\'eather  conftantly 
prefents  him  with  blue  (kles,  luxuriant  planrations,  and  funny  profpe^ts,  will  find  his  imagination 
the  ftrongefl  of  his  faculties;  and,  in  the  expreflion  of  his  fentiments,  will  abound  in  aliufions  to 
natural  obje(fts,  in  fimilies,  and  the  moft  lively  metaphors.  His  imagination  will  be  his  diftinguifli- 
ing  excellence,  becaufe  it  will  be  more  exercifed  than  any  otlierof  his  faculties;  and  all  the  powers 
both  of  body  and  mind  are  known  to  acquire  vigour  by  habitual  exertion.  He,  on  the  other  hand, 
whofe  lot  it  is  to  exift  in  a  lefs  favoured  part  of  the  globe,  who  is  driven  by  the  inclemency  of  his 
climate  to  warm  roofs,  and,  inftead  of  backing  in  the  funfliine  amldft  all  the  combined  beauties  of 
nature,  flies  for  refuge  from  the  cold  to  the  blazing  hearth  of  a  fmoky  cottage,  will  feek,  in  the  exer- 
cife  of  his  reafon,  thofe  refources  which  he  cannot  find  in  the  aftual  employnricnt  of  his  imagination. 
Good  fenfe  and  juft  reafoning  will  therefore  predominate  in  his  produiftions.  Even  in  the  wildeft  o£ 
his  flights,  a  metiiodical  plan,  the  refult  of  thought  and  refleftion,  will  appear,  on  examination,  to 
reftrain  the  irregularities  of  licentious  fancy."  (i)  Yet,  the  Scandinavian,  the  Highland,  and  tl'rf 
Danmonian  bards,  have  all  the  flightinefs  and  fire  of  the  oriental  genius. 

(i)  See  Kn».\'s  ESTayg  (8ih  edit.)  vol.  2,  p.  331,  35*. 


The    BRITISH   PERIOD.  171 

other  than  Phenician.{A)  On  this  idea,  they  proceed  to  derive  from  the  Pheni(.i.ins  the 
name  of  the  ifland  itfelf,  of  this  weftern  traft  in  particular,  of  its  rivers,  its  mountains, 
its  vallies,  and  its  towns,  together  with  its  natural  and  artificial  produ(5tions.(^)  Sammes, 
in  his  defcription  of  Britain,  intimates,  that  the  name(<:)  of  Britain  was  given  to  it  by  the 
Phenician  navigators,  fignifying  the  Land  or  Ijlaiid  of  Ti?i ;  which  they  called  Bratanac^ 
or  Baratanac ;  and  that  this  was  agreeable  to  the  cuftom  of  thofe  merchants,  who  gave 
names  to  many  places  on  the  fea-coafts,  in  -ffigypt,  Africa,  Gaul,  and  Spain — all  the 
ancient  names  of  which  are  of  Phenician  extract  or  origin  ;  though  many  of  them  were 
afterwards  perverted  by  the  Greeks  to  their  own  idiom.  (ti)Thus  (according  to  Sammes) 
Cornnvall  is  £0  named  from  cern  or  kern,  or  cheran ;  a  Phenician  word  for  a  headland, 
promontory,  or  point  of  land  like  a  bom.  Cornwall  has  two  fuch  points  of  laud — the 
promontory  called  Bel  ir  or  promontorium  Beleriujn  ;  the  other,  Meneg,  fi'om  the  Pheniciaix 
word  Meneog,  a  peninfula.  And  thus  Danmonium,  including  Cornwall  and  Devonfhiie, 
comes  fiom  dan  or  dun,  a  Phenician  word  for  a  hill,  and  moina  fignifj'ing  mines,  in  Phe- 
nician, or  minerals,  that  is  to  lay,  the  country  of  mines,  {e)    It  is  to  the  Phenician  age,  that 

moll 

{a)  Dr.  Pryce  intimates,  in  his  Archaeologia  Cornu-brltannica,  that  the  Comlfh  language  was 
immediately  introduced  by  the  Phenicians.  This  idea  feems  to  be  derived  from  Scawen's  MS.  to 
which  the  Dodtor  had  accefs.  It  is  there  obferved  that  the  Wefl-Briti(h  tongue  was  moft  like  the 
Phenician — manly,  Ihort,  and  expreflive.  "  The  Paflion,  a  poem,  written  in  Cornu-Britifh,  is  no* 
eafily  underftood  by  the  Welfli,  from  the  intermixture  of  thofe  idiomatic  expreflions,  originally  bor- 
rowed from  the  Phenicians.'"     Scawen's  MS.  as  referred  to  by  Bcrlafe.     Nat.  Hift.  p.  314. 

{/>)  We  fliculd  remen^er,  however,  that  the  Phenician  is  derived  from  the  Ckaldaic,  as  well  as 
the  purs  Britifh — the  language  of  the  Aborigines  of  Danmonium. 

{c)  "  Some  have  thought  (faysBorlafe)  that  the  Phenicians — others,  that  the  Grecians  planted  fome 
of  the  fea-coafts ;  leaving  colonies  behind  them  :  But  the  great  uniformity  to  be  obferved  among 
the  ancient  Britons,  proves  them  to  be  of  one  original."  That  there  was,  however,  a  very  ftriking 
diftinftion  between  the  inland  inhabitants  and  thofe  of  the  maritime  parts,  Cxfar  alFerts  upon  the 
befl  grounds.  And  this  pofition  will  be  abundantly  proved  in  the  courfc  of  our  difquifitions.  With 
refpedt  to  the  Phenicians,  Dr.  Borlafe  aflerts,  in  oppofition  to  Sammes,  that  the  dii'covery  and  co- 
lonization of  the  weft  by  this  people,  has  no  other  foundation  than  the  names  of  places  derived  from 
Phenician  words. 

{d)  "  Britain,  the  moft  renowned  ifland  of  the  whole  world,  was  called  by  the  ancient  Greeks 
AABinN,  afterwards  it  took  the  name  of  Britannia,  but  more  truly,  Bretunica,  from  the  adjacent 
iflands  called,  Baiat-anac,  or  Bratanac  by  the  Phoenicians-,  from  the  abundance  of  tynn,  and  lead- 
mines,  found  in  them.  It  was  alwaies  efteemed  a  very  confiderable  part  of  the  world,  even  in  th.e 
height  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  much  celebrated  in  the  writings  and  monuments  of  the  Grecians ; 
and,  as  if  the  genius  of  this  nation  did  prompt  the  inhabitants,  and  infenfibly  lead  them  to  trade 
and  traffick,  we  find  that  befides  that,  the  ifland  received  irs  name  from  it,  infomuch,  that,  in  the 
firft  ages,  it  was  frequented  by  the  ableft  merchants,  and  Ikilfulleft  marriners,  the  Phter.iciam. ;  wIk> 
carefully,  and  fludioufly  concealed  this  treafure  from  the  world,  being  exceeding  jealous,  leaft  the 
fource  and  head  of  their  trade  being  difcovered,  the  bufie  Gracians  might  put  in  for  fliarers  :  And 
leaft  the  fruitfulnefs  of  the  foyl,  the  pleafant  and  deliglitful  fcituaticn  of  the  country,  might  tempt 
thofe  of  their  own  nation  to  negleft  their  barren  foyl,  and  bet.ike  themfelves  to  tliis  more  temperate 
and  bleflTed  clymatej  we  read,  that,  by  a  publick  edift  of  thofe  ftates,  care  was  taken  to  prevent 
it,  yea,  all  poltible  means  ufed  too,  to  flop  the  current  which  was  vifibly  turning  that  way."  Samn-.eSf 
p.  I,  2. — "  The  reafon  that  abfolutely  confirms  me  in  the  opinion,  the  ScUly  Iflands  gave  name  at 
Idft  to  this  great  Ifland,  that  now  alone  keeps  the  name  of  Britannia,  is,  becaufe  Pliny  writes,  that 
this  ifland  was  called  Albion,  when  as  all  the  iflands  adjacent  were  called  Britain  :  io  that  we  fee  the 
name  oi  Bratar.ac  firft  took  place  in  the  adjacent  iflands,  before  it  came  on  the  main  land  oi  Albiovj 
but  in  fuccefllon  of  time  the  name  gaining  footing  in  Comiual  and  Dcvonlhire,  it  prevailed  at  laft  over 
all  the  ifland,  and  the  greater  part  fwallowed  up  at  laft  the  name  of  the  whole,  although  corrupted 
and  diftorted  by  the  feveral  dialefts  it  ran  through."     Sammes,  p.  43. 

(t')  "  As  the  Silures  derived  their  name  from  the  Phoenicians,  (o  likewlfe  did  the  Danmonii,  the  in- 
habitants of  Corniunl  and  Defonjhiic,  in  which  two  counties  the  Pha-nicians  were  very  converfant,  by 
reafon  of  their  abounding  in  tynn.  Upon  this  account  fome  have  derived  them  from  moina,  in  the 
Britijh  tongue  fignifying  mines,  but  the  queftion  is,  whence  the  dan  or  dun  proceeds  ?  for  Solinus 
calls  them  Dunmonii ;  Ptolemy,  Damnonii,  and  in  Other  copies  (as  Camden  faith)  trulier  Danmonii,  al- 
though I  think  the  tranfporition  is  very  eafie  and  ufual,  and  hides  not  at  all  tlie  original  dan  or  dtm. 
In  the  ancient  Britijh  language,  as  alfo  in  the  Phctnician,  dun  fignifies  a  bill,  and  dan  of  the  Britijh, 
d'ltvn  of  tlie  Phoenicians  and  Erglijh,  ngnifie  low.  Now  whether  we  derive  them  from  dan,  from 
tfaeir  low  habitations  in  valleys,  or,  which  is  rigliter,  from  d^n  nr^ina,  fignifying  bills  of  tynn  j  I  find 

Vol.  I.  y  2  both 


17?  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of   DEVONSHIRE. 

both  Wales  that  they  are  of  a  Phcenician  derivation.     Befides,  this  word  dun,  being  a  frequenWr 
yvord  in  derivation,  and  extending  to  the  language  of  the  Gauls,  who  called  an  hill  dun,  I  think 
rpore  proper  to  derive  Dunmonti  from  it,  for  from  dun,  a  hill,  many  cities  of  high  fcituation  both  in 
Qaul  and  Br:ia:n  take  their  pame,  as  Augujiodunum,  Ascllodutmm,  yuliodunuiti,  Laudunum,  Melcdu-; 
pum,  No-vkdunum,  Sedunum,  VcUar.no^uii.m,      Clitopkon  exprefly,  Lugdunum,  Corvi  Collem,  becaufc 
\^  was  placed  on  a  hill ;  likewife  Andcmatunum,  with  a  T,  in  Ptolemy,  the  metropolis  of  the  Lingones, 
•jhe  firft  country  of  the  Danmon'n  weftward  is  Carnival,  (hooting  into  the  fea,  and  ninning  into  a 
point  of  B;lir:urn.  the  name  of  which  country,  if  %ve  examine  the  original  of  it,  and  what  at  this 
<lay  it  is  called  by  the  inhabitants,  and  the  fimilitude  it  bears  v/ith  other  places,  exaftly  agreeing  in 
name  and  nature  with  it,  we  Ihall  find  it  could  be  called  fo  by  none  but  the  Fhcenic'ians.     To  prove 
this,  let  us  confider  it  is  agreed  upon  by  all  hands,  that  it  received  its  name  from  being  like  a  hcm^ 
running  ♦'.nailer  and  fmalier,  with  little  promontories,  as  if  they  were  hcrned  on  either  fide  :  And 
this  is  brought  from  Kcm,  plur.  Kern,  fignifying  horns  in  the  Brlt'ijh  language.     Now  as  this  Kem 
Qr  Korn  is  derived  from  the  Phcenician  Keren,  fignifying  the  fame,  fo  the  manner  of  calling  places 
after  that  fort  came  from  them  alfo,  a  thing  fo  frequent  in  the  eaftern  countries,  to  call  any  corner 
or  angle  made,  by  the  name  of  horn  ;    as  for  example,  Cyprus  called  Ceraftls,   and   Kf /»/>(,= Ti;9ra6 
In  Taurka  Cberjcmfo;  that  we  sre  not  to  doubt  but  Ccrnwal,  called  Kernaiv  by  the  inhabitants,  pro- 
ceeded from  the  Phoenician  here.     To  give  an  inftance,  the  city  Camon,  as  Pliny  calls  it,  Carna,  as 
5'toiemy,  meerly  upon  the  account  of  its  ftanding  upon  an  angle,  cut  out  by  two  high-waics  that 
met  there  in  a  point  en  which  Cami  was  built,  one  of  which  roads  from  Mecca  leads  to  Tafphf 
the  other  to  ^ar.aa.     But  this  way  of  the  Phaiiicians  was  frequently  in  promontories  whofe  Phoe- 
r.icians  Karnatba,   afterwards  mollified  by  the  Greeks  into  Kipixrn,  Kf'iv®-,   KJ^v®--,   and  all 
this,  from  its  having  fo  many  promontories,  which  by  the  Pi(eniciani  w-ere  called  Kern.    That  Carn- 
ival was  called  Kemaw  by  them  rather  than  the  inhabitants,  will  appear  :  Firft,  becaufe  there  is  no 
other  promontory  in  this  ifland  fo  called,  notwithftanding  the  Bntip  language  was  in  ufe  through 
the  whole.     There  are  other  places  that  run  into  the  fea  as  much  like  a  horn  as  this,  which,  in  my 
judgment,  is  an  evident  fign  of  the  Phanicians  in  this  part  of  England  above  others.     Secondly,  be- 
caufe it  is  more  natural  to  imagine,  that  failors  (to  whom  the  (hapes  of  countries  appear  at  a  diftancc, 
^ore  than  to  the  inhabitants)  fhoiild  give  the  name,  than  thofe  that  only  ply'd  upon  the  flioars  in 
fmall  caroivs,  or  leatlinr  and  "wicker  boats,  as  the  Britains  did.    It  is  to  be  obferved  xh^A  Meneg,  a  part 
pf  Carnival,  which  of  the  fouth  fea  does  make  another  direft  horn,  is  alfo  of  a  Phcenician  derivation, 
agreeing  to  that  delcription  Mr.  Camden  gives  of  it,  viz.  that  it  is  a  Demy-IJlajd,  Meneog  of  the  Phoe- 
i/ician  fignifying  kept  in  by  the  fea,  and  which  he  proves  in  the  Mcnna  which  Jornandus  defcribes  out 
of  Cornelius  a  writer  of  antiquities ;    fo  that  to  failors  afar  off,  Comnval  appears  with  two  hornS} 
striking  itfelf  into  the  fea,  which  part  of  England,  I  believe,  was  firft  difcovered  by  the  Pheeniciam, 
Vvho,  without  queftion,  finding  a  world  of  tynn  in  them,  fecured  them  for  themfelves.     And  altho* 
J^eneg  is  now  deftitqte  of  all  mettals,  as  long  ago  exhaufted,  yet  that  there  were  fuph  mines  in  it, 
hear  the  fame  author :    It  has  great  ftore  of  Mettal  Mines,  very  full  of  grafs  and  herbs,  bringing 
forth  more  plentifully  all  thofe  things  which  ferve  for  paftorage  of  beafto,  and  nourifhment  of  man. 
1  will  only  mention  one  thing  in  this  peninfula,  which  feenis  to  me  exaftly  to  preferve  its  Phoenician 
^amC)  and  that  is  a  fortification  oi  Jiones  only  without  any  cernent  or  mortar,  lying  as  upon  the  lake 
"Leopoh,  a  fordfication  after  the  manner  of  the  Britains,  as  Tacitus  defcribes  them,  r'4des  6f  informe\ 
j'axorum  cojtpages,  which  was  the  way  of  the  eaftern  nations,  as  the  fcrlptures  themfelves  inform  us. 
This  rude  heap  oi  Jiones  the  inhabitants  call  to  this  day  Erth,  without  giving  any  reafon  for  fo  ancient 
a  rampier,  and  of  fo  great  a  compafs  as  it  is,  fo  that  none  can  induce  me  to  believe  but  that  It  took 
its  name  frcm  the  lake  on  which  it  lies,  for  the  Phoenicians  caird  all  lakes,  Arith,  fo  that  this  military 
fence  called,  as  I  have  faid,  Er.h,  \  believe  from  thence  received  its  name.     There  are  many  places 
in  tiiefe  two  counties,  Ccn.ival  apd  Diic-Jh'.re,  which  retain  exaft  fodt-fteps  of  the  Phoenicians,  that 
cannot  be  found  any  where  elfe,  which  1  fhall  omit  as  nothing  eafier  than  to  fancy  fimijitudes,  efpe- 
cially  where,  perhaps,  they  will  not  be  allowed  of.     The  truth  of  Phoenician  trafficks  In  thefe  parts 
do  not  depend  upon  fuch  conjeflures,  but  evidenced  by  authentick  hlftcries,  fo  that  I  will  not  men- 
tion Godclcan,  a  hill  famous  for  the  plenty  of  the  mines  of  tynn,  as  Mr.  Camckn  witnefieth,  which 
plenty  of  that  mettal  is  included  in  the  vei^  word  it  felf,  only  here  let  me  obferve,  that  in  the  weft 
and  fouth  parts  cf  England,  even  where  the  Britijh  language  prevails  not,  we  find  many  places  begin 
with  Pen,  namely,  fuch  as  are  of  a  high   fcituation,  which,  without  difpute,  is  an  argument,  tha^ 
Pen,  a  hill  in  t  le  Britijh  languagCj  came  from  the  Phankian  Pinnah,  fignifying  the  fame  thing,  be- 
caufe we  find  it  moft  ufed  in  thofe  parts  of  England  the  Phoenicians  frequented  moft  ;  nay  through 
all  this  ifiand  ^e  (hall  fcarce  meet  with  any  northward,  when  on  the  weft  and  fouth  coafts,  we 
cannot  go  fix  or  eight  mijes  but  we  find  them.     To  inftance  in  the  fouth-fide  of  Carnival  only  :  Pen- 
roje,  Pei'fans,  Penge^Jick,  Pearoje  again,  Penivarron,  Pendennis,  Penkeivel,  Pemvyn,  Pentuan,  Penrackj 
to  which  may  be  added  that  infinite  number  of  towns  beginning  with  Tre,  as  Treeivcfe,  Trenowth^ 
Tregenna,  Treivarveneth,  Tre-vajcus,  Trenona,  Treivaridrcth,  Treivargan,  Trcgernin,   Trelijick,  Trefujisf 
Tregamian,  Tremadart,  Tregonoc,  which  thofe  very  fame  parts  can  have  no  other  account  given  of 
tliem,  if  lh,zy  proceed  not  from  the  Phoenician  Tira,  and  by  contraflion  Traj  fignifying  a  ca^le,  fq 
'  •   ■■  ■  " '     ■  that 


The     BRITISH    PERIOD.  173 

that  they  were  forts  bulk  by  them  to  fecure  their  trade.  Now  give  me  leave  to  Inftance  here  iu 
feme  Brltijh  words  that  agree  exaftly  with  the  Pboen'iciar,  which  I  (hall  put  down  in  Engl'ijh  charac- 
ters, leaving  the  examination  of  the  words,  and  the  roots  of  them  to  the  learned. 

Brit.  Phoenician.  Englifli. 

Crag^  or  Ca>eg,  Carac,  Crac,  A  bill. 

Corn,  plur,  Kern,  Coran,  plur.  Kem,  A  horn. 

Cflcr, from  whence  came  Caerlyle,   Caer,  from  whence  Carthago,        A  city. 

Get,  Gwith,  A  breach. 

Caturfa,  Kat-erva,  A  tr'^of. 

Penny  Pinnah,  'Iht  cliff  oi  z  bilL 

Cum,  Cum,  Lota. 

Dany  Douna,  Down. 

Pel,   furtheft  off,  whence  Mr.  ?  „  ,.  er- 

A      J     ,    ■         D  ;■  ■  ?  Pell,  -   To  remivm'ustn, 

Camden  brings  BeUnum.,  3 

Meath,  Mawath,  A  plain  or  'valley. 

■Ara,  Ahari,  Slvw. 

Cariv,  or  Carano,  Garaph,  S-uiift. 

Dun^  Dun,  A  hill. 

Bra,  Baro,  A  country  or  region, 

G-withy  Guet,  A  feparation.'''' 

Sammes,  p.  58,  59,  6c. 

«'  The  name  of  Danmon,  the  country  or  province  of  Devonlhere  now  by  a  fynerefis  or  contra£Uon 
named  Denefheere  was  fometimes  one  and  the  fame  province  with  Comewall,  and  fo  by  afl  the  old 
and  ancient  cronographers  were  reputed,  and  both  by  the  name  of  Danmonia  were  called  which  is 
to  fay  the  country  cf  valleys,  whith  the  old  Britons,  and  now  the  Wellh  (which  be  the  remaynents 
of  the  Britons)  foe  name  it,  which  fignifyeth  deepe  and  narrow  valleys,  ffor  the  country  is  ffuU  of 
hills  and  mountalnes.  and  where  be  many  hills  there  confequently  be  alfo  many  valleys."  Hooker,  p.  i. 
"  And  notwithftanding  that  the  river  of  Tamer  is  the  boundes  and  limitts  betweene  Devon  and 
Comewall  faving  that  in  fome  particular  places  the  one  borroweth  of  the  other  yet  they  both  doe 
retain  their  old  and  and  ancient  name  in  the  Latine  tongue  with  this  difference  the  one  being  called 
the  Eaft  Danmonia  and  the  other  rhe  Weft  Danmonia,  but  when  thefe  t«  o  were  joyned  in  one  it  was 
much  greater  and  did  reach  in  length  fFrom  the  ffartheft  parte  and  pointe  of  the  Ifle  of  Sillye  in 
the  weft  unto  the  confines  and  marches  of  Durotines  and  the  Belgianes  in  the  eaft  which  is  Dorfet- 
fheere  and  Somerferfheere.  ffor  in  times  paft  fome  writers  doe  hold  that  Sillye  was  continent  land 
with  Comewall,  but  by  the  violence  of  raging  feas  in  procefle  of  time  the  lar.d  betweene  them  hath 
bin  wafted  and  devoured,  and  whereof  fome  inftances  be  given,  becaufe  in  a  ffaire  fummer  and  a 
fun  (hining  day  the  feafayring  men  doe  fee  and  difceme  fundry  monuments  of  houfes  and  churches 
vnder  and  in  the  water.  And  yet  nctwithftanding  the  open  fpace  and  partition  betweene  them,  they 
be  both  in  one  and  in  the  fame  province,  of  Comewall,  and  both  it  and  the  province  of  Devon  be 
in  one  diocelTe  and  vnder  one  and  the  fame  Biftiop  of  Excefter,  thefe  two  provinces  when  they  were 
both  one  they  were  alfo  called  Corinia  and  fo  named  (as  it  is  tliought)  by  Corineus  cofen  vnto  Brutus 
and  a  fpeciall  man  off  accompt  and  of  fervice  vnder  him,  whom  Brutus  rewarded  with  this  country 
at  their  ffirft  arrivall  and  landins;  in  the  fame.  And  albeit  fome  doe  not  allow  this  nor  the  hiftory  of 
Brutus  to  be  true,  yet  fforafmuch  as  antiquity  hath  left  it  vnto  us  ffor  a  matter  of  truth,  it  were 
againft  all  humanity  to  denye  the  fame  and  to  derogate  that  creditt  which  hath  ffor  ever  hitherto 
bin  received."     Hooker,  p.  2. 

"  It  is  obvious  to  vs  in  moft  authors,  I  mean  Geographers  and  Hiftorlographers,  that  either  de- 
fcribe  kingdomes  or  write  their  hiftorles,  that  they  are  more  troubled  to  fearch  &  finde  their  primitive 
names  &  wherce  they  are  derived,  &  the  reafon  why  they  were  firft  impofed  then  in  any  other  mat- 
ter although  of  far  greater  worth  and  confequence  :  This  caufed  Plutark  the  greai  didator  of  know- 
ledge to  complain  in  his  preface  to  the  life  cf  Rcmulus,  that  the  hiftorlographers  before  him  did 
much  varye  in  their  writings,  by  whome  or  for  what  caufe  the  great  name  of  the  great  citye,  Rome 
(in  its  time  the  glory  of  t!ie  whole  world)  was  firft  impofed  on  It.  Of  fuch  like  we  need  not  make 
fearch  among  other  foreigne  writers,  in  regard  it  is  foe  apparently  feene  in  this  our  owne  countr}', 
whither  you  name  it  Albion,  Brittaine  or  England,  whofe  fame  is  now  farder  fpred  then  Romes  in 
her  greatnefs,  about  each  of  thefe  3  feverall  names,  and  the  nrft  plantation  thereof  many  worthy 
wife  &  learned  men  haue  long  bufied  wearied  yea  clean  tyred  themfelues,  &  yet  in  fine  left  it  but 
vpon  fuppofalls  &  vncertaine  conjeflure.  Let  vs  but  ferloufly  confider  the  alterations  of  names  of 
fuch  countries  in  the  hiftories  whereof  wee  are  moft  converfant;  And  for  our  more  affurance  leaue 
poets  &  vncertain  reporters,  &  fuch  as  come  cnely  by  tradition  &  folye  obferve  liow  the  countries 
cityes  and  mountalnes  in  the  land  of  pron:ife  had  their  names  altered  from  the  time  of  Abraham ;  or 
when  Mofes  wrote  to  the  birth  of  Our  Saviour  (fome  1500  of  yeares]  &  from  that  age  to  this  our 
time  163 1  fomewhat  longer,  &  their  with  all  the  qualitie  of  the  foyle,  &  wee  Ihail  fiiidi  n.uch  matter 
worthy  our  feiious  confideration  &  obfervation  in  the  viclffitude  &  interchangeable  courfe  cf  places 
|>oth  in  name  Ss  nature,  which  diuerfe  hayc  both  with  eyes  &  minde  rightly  confidered  in  their  late 

trauells , 


174  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

trauells  ;  when  t!icy  favv  &  endured  the  penurie  &  banennefs  of  that  region,  they  could  hardly  bee 
induced  to  belieue  that  that  was  the  land  that  Jehova  the  great  God  of  heauen  had  promifed  to  his 
daoffin  fervant  Abraham  ftiould  flow  with  milk  and  honey  for 

That  pleafjnt  foyk  that  did  euen  (hame  erewhile 
The  plenteous  beauties  of  the  bankes  of  Nile 
Void  now  of  force  or  vital  vegitiue 
Vpon  whofe  brefl  nothing  can  line  or  thriue. 
As  the  diulne  poet  fingeth  :  then  who  (if  this  world  fhould  continue  yet  the  like  time  to  come)  will 
bee  able  to  yield  a  reafon  why  the  ports,  havens,  ilands  and  kingdomes  in  America  haue  their  now 
tlenon>inations  impofed  by  their  late  difcoverers  o.-  lateft  conquerors  (the  antient  being  rejefted  & 
irrecoverably  lort)  as  Peru,  Ffiorida,  Virginia,   and  efpecially   the  land  of  fFamine  and  defolation 
which  two  may  loilg  within  that  fuppofed  time  bee  made  as  habitable  &  fruitful!,  or  fome  way  found 
as  benefitiall  as  any  the  other.     Why  then  fhould  there  bee  a  certain  reafon  expe<^ed  of  the  names 
&  original  of  CQuntries  foe  long  fince  inhabited,  &  foe  often  changed  and  count£rchanged  by  the 
viclflitude  of  inhabitants,  as  the  Poet  excellently  faith, 

Sith  it  befalls,  not  alwayes  that  his  feed 
Who  built  the  towne  doth  in  the  fame  fucceed. 
And  to  fay  more,  fince  vnder  heauen  noe  race 
Perpetually  poflTeffeth  any  place, 
Ffor  when  as  wind  the  angry  ocean  moves 
Waue  hunteth  waue,  &  billow  billow  Ihoues, 
Soe  dee  all  nations  iuftle  each  the  other 
And  foe  one  people  doth  purfue  an  other. 
And  fcarce  the  fecond  hath  the  firft  vnhowfed 
Before  the  third  him  thence  again  haue  roufed. 
And  what  hath  beene  left  vs  written  worthy  our  vndoubting  beleife  (the  facred  fcriptures  onely  ex- 
cepted) before  the  warrs  of  Thebes  or  dertrudion  of  Troy  (which  is  fuppofed  neer  the  time  that 
Jeptha  judged  Ifrael),  both  which  are  deliuered  vnto  vs  rather  poetically,  than  hiftorically  j  which 
doth  eiTibolden  mee  to  demand  this  queftion  with  the  poet  Lucretius 

Cur  fupra  bellum  Thebanum  et  funera  Trojae, 
Non  alias  quondani  veteres  cecinere  Poetae  ? 
You  cannot  faile  of  a  probable  anfwere,  that  few  languages  had  then  charaflers ;  and  few  men  were 
learned,  and  fewer  writers  in  that  age,  and  thofe  few  treated  of  matters  of  greater  worth,  and  more 
needfuil  to  bee  knowne  &  perpetuated  to  poileritie  and  what  was  by  them  written  (being  in  neither 
of  the  ftrong  &  durable  fubftance  of  Seth  his  pillars  to  refifi:  the  two  contrarie  elements  of  lire  &  water) 
periflied  together  in  the  great  libraries.  If  the  original  of  kingdomes,  tlieir  primitive  names,  &  t\w 
reafon  of  thofe  Impofed  denominations  bee  foe  laborious  to  bee  inquired  after  and  foe  difficult  to  bee 
found ;  much  more  induftry  will  bee  required,  &  much  more  obfcure  will  it  bee  to  find  the  fame 
of  fubjefted  provinces  within  them.  Of  one  of  v.'hich  (Devon  I  mean  my  native  foyle)  I  intend  by 
God's  affiftance  (after  my  poor  Ikill  &  reading)  to  fhew  you  a  flight  fuperficial  veiw. 

Dij  Cieptis  ■     ■ 

Afpirate  meis  ■ 
Wherein  if  I  fhall  endeavour  to  follow  the  poets  good  advice  when  hee  faith — Omne  tullt  punflum 
qui  mifcuit  vtiie  dulci  ;  I  hope  that  fhall  not  difcontent.  And  in  fuch  a  confufed  chaos  of  varieties 
to  intermix  fome  inveterate  traditions,  fomewhat  differing  but  not  difagreeing  from  the  matter  in 
hand  together  with  a  ftrang  &  pleafant  tale,  when  I  cannot  fhun  it ;  with  antient  names,  epitaphes 
or  armories  well  neer  buried  in  oblivion,  matters  non  fupervacual  or  vnworthy  to  bee  revived  &  kept 
living,  (vnlefs  wee  would  haue. our  owne  name  &  remembrance  to  peri/h  with  our  bodies)  or  fome 
etymologies  feeming  ftrange  &  far  fetcht,  old  or  new,  ferious  tryvial  or  curious,  with  plain  defcrip- 
tlons  of  places  :  for  thefe  and  fuch  like  matters  may  (without  peradventure)  more  eafe  and  recreat 
the  wearied  mind  of  the  reader  (that  reades  for  recreation)  with  mere  delightfull  content,  for 
■warietye ;  then  difiike  the  fevere  critick  for  fimplicitie,  vulgaritye  or  doubt  of  veritie  :  Some  few 
things  will  occur  in  reading  but  much  more  varietie  is  to  be  added  by  fearch,  colleftion  and  induf- 
iiou«  labour,  wherein  fome  fuppofitions  are  to  bee  pardoned  if  they  eir,  (for  hee  that  divineth  in 
things  of  this  qualitie  vpon  bare  conjedlures  may  as  well  /hut  fhort  as  overlhut  the  markes  hee 
aimeth  at)  if  they  bee  not  ferious,  but  aileaged  onely  to  furnifti  &  beautlfie  the  edifices  as  pldures 
and  mapps  in  a  gallery.  Here  you  may  converfe  with  the  dead  (whofe  reliques  long  fince  diffolved 
to  duft,  will  neither  flatter  nor  accept  thereof)  fee  their  obelifkes  &  monuments  read  their  epitaphes 
(which  fhew  vs  either  what  they  were  and  what  wee  fliall  bee,  or  fometimes  what  wee  fliouJd 
bee)  &  fee  their  anions  reglftred  or  v.orthy  to  bee,  to  encourage  their  pofterltie  to  imitation.  But 
herein  if  any  mans  expedatlon  bee  vnfatisfied,  fciant  prefentes  et  futuri  j  that  this  poor  cote  was 
erefted  with  brick  burnt  with  ftubble  gathered  with  my  owne  handes  in  (uch  barren  fieildes  as  I 
haue  traveld  over  wherein  thofe  of  whome  I  haue  had  any  affiftance  (be  it  neuer  foe  flender)  ffiall 
not  be  forgotten,  but  fomev/here  remembered,  &  their  mite  made  a  beazant.  And  if  fuch  (as  vpon 
jcqueft)  have  refufcd  to  yield  mee  any  afliiUnfe  fliall  (as  I  am  affurgd  they  will  firft  of  all}  uxe  mee 

of 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  175 

of  negligence  in  forgetting  then>  as  I  pafied  by,  fuch  I  could  wlfli  to  haue  mere  corirtlfye  &  affabi- 
litie  &  not  to  prefume  to  thinke  they  know  others  wlicn  they  are  ignorant  of  themfelves,  whom  whea 
they  well  know,  not  to  cheft  vp  that  knowledge  nor  fcornetully  to  refufe  to  participate  it  to  other,  & 
to  remember  the  old  verfe, 

Scire  tunm  nihil  eft,  nifi  te  fcire  hoe  fciat  alter 
But  it  Is  high  time  to  follow  Diogenes  councell  to  fhutt  the  gate  left  the  tovvne  run  out,  yet  I  ftiafl 
defire  if  arry  thing  found  or  feem  to  your  vnderftanding  contrarie  to  my  intendment,  that  my  vnficil- 
fulnefs  in  regard  of  my  willingnefs  rnay  haue  a  mild  &  favourable  interpretation :  And  in  all  ferious 
matters  of  antiqnitie  thofe  authors  I  haue  followed  fliall  plead  for  my  integritie.  It  is  dull  doubtful! 
and  vncertaine  travelling  in  an  vnknown  way  without  a  guide,  yet  hee  is  droven  to  a  far  greater 
extremitie  that  at  every  croffeway  of  his  journey  is  taught  fcverall  wayes  by  feveral  guides,  yet  how- 
foeuer  if  you  pleafe  to  travle  thither  haue  with  jou  about  Denfliire. 

Whence  Devonfliire  tooke  denomination  &  what  diuers  names  it  hath  had. 
Deavonia,  Devonftiire,  nov7  by  fynasrefis  or  abbreviation  Denftiire,  a  province  of  this  Irttle  world 
of  Brlttaine  as  Claudian  faid.  Noftro  dedufta  Britannia  mundo.  It  was  fometiine  one  and  the  fame 
province  with  Cornwall  &  foe  by  all  ancient  chorographers  reputed  &  bcth  included  vnder  the  Latine 
name  Danmonia  j  by  Solinus  Polyhiltor,  Dunmonia;  by  Ptolomeus,  Damnonia,  as  derived  from 
Monla,  Mines,  or  from  their  habitation  in  low  &  deep  vallies.  Thefe  antient  writers  llued  far  re- 
mote, &  could  hardly  haue  a  true  relation  of  travelers  that  onely  touched  at  our  havens ;  or  traveyling 
through  our  country,  vnderftocd  not  the  language,  &  perchance  converfed  with  thofe  which  knew 
little  of  the  etymoligie  of  the  name.  I  ftiould  rather  therefore  (in  regard  it  Is  a  worke  of  afliftance 
&  that  I  fliall  bee  hardly  able  to  mafter  it  by  my  owne  ftrength)  craue  ayd  of  the  Brittaines  themfelues 
which  named  it  (&  foe  doe  the  Welfh  which  defcended  from  them)  Diffinint,  DufFeneyn,  or  Dinnan, 
all  which  in  one  fenfe  fignifie  deep  &  narrow  valleyes  ;  and  doth  in  fome  fort  expreffe  the  nature  Sc 
qualitie  of  the  foyle  j  which  Is  mountanous  &  hilly,  &  where  the  one  Is  there  muft  needes  be  the 
other,  for  there  were  neuer  feene  two  hills  without  a  valley,  fome  in  their  private  opinions  may  bee 
feveraliy  pleafed  with  fome  one  of  thefe.  others  will  derive  it  from  the  Danes  &  call  it  Dane's-fliyre. 
but  therefore  as  yet  I  could  neuer  find  any  probabilirie,  onely  a  fympathy  of  letters  or  a  fynonima  m 
found,  but  not  In  fignification  ;  for  it  had  this  name  long  before  the  Danes  arrival  (not  above  one 
thoufand  yeares  fince)  and  they  had  little  time  of  command  here  (much  lefs  of  quiet  occupation) 
to  glue  names  to  ftirps  cr  townes  much  lelFe  to  countries.     But  all  thefe  (which  ferve  to  noe  bet- 

rtentie  thereof)  I  v/ill  leave,  &  every  man  to  his  p 
nuUius  addiftus  jurare  in  verba  magiftri ;  and  I  hop 
i  particular  &  offer  my  opinion  or  conjeiSure  among 
Soe  I  would  call  it  Avon-ftiyr  De-Avonfhyre  by  abbreviation  Denfliir.  Avon  in  the  moft  antient 
fpeech  of  this  land  is  a  riuer  and  (taken  generally  as  it  fignifies)  is  a  name  for  all  running  wells, 
hrookes,  rlverets,  rivers  and  fleeting  ftreames  Sc  waters,  and  this  countrie  abounding  more  in  water 
fprlngs  &  rivers  that  (as  the  prophet  faith)  cleeve  the  earth,  then  any  that  I  have  heard  or  read  off  j 
I  am  induced  to  tliink  It  may  with  good  reafon  take  name  from  them  as  from  mynes,  valleyes,  or 
Danes,  for  Here  many  brookes  as  through  the  gioves  they  travle 

Doe  fport  for  joy  vpon  the  filver  gcnvle. 
Deavon  or  Devon  the  country  of  riuers  or  waters,  which  Is  fooner  granted  with  lefs  alteration  of 
letters  by  farr,  then  any  of  the  other,  &  agreeth  more  fitly  with  the  nature  of  our  foyle  &  propertie 
of  language,  and  as  the  poet  faith,  conveniunt  rebus  nomina  fa?pe  fuis.  And  the  light  of  reverend 
antiquitie  &  knowledge  Mr.  Cambdeii,  proveth  that  the  Gawlifn  and  Bryttilh  fpeech  was  all  one- 
Being  foe,  Diu  in  the  Brittifn  fpeech  fignifieth  with  vs  God,  &  Avon  a  fpiing  or  riuer,  as  Aufonius 
Writing  of  a  ffountajn  neer  Burdeaux,  faith, 

Diuona  Celtanim  Lingua,  fons  addita  Divls. 
Diuona  in  the  Celtifh  vi-ords 
A  well  facred  to  Gcd  affouards. 
Or  a  diuine  riuer.  there  are  alfoe  diuers  riuers  In  this  kingdome,  which  haue  noe  other  name  at  tbW 
prefent  (nor  euer  had)  then  Avon,  the  riuer.  one  of  good  note  in  Wiltfliyre,  that  falls  f:-om  Dorfet 
into  the  ocean,  another  of  that  name  which  breaketh  out  of  the  earth  at  Avon  Well  in  Leycefterfhire 
by  Malmeft)urye  called  Avon  the  LefTe,  pafTeth  through  Northamptonfhire,  &  cleeveth  Warwick,  Wor- 
cefter,  &  Sometfetfhire,  running  many  miles  ere  it  vlfrt  Bath  &  Briftoll  and  there  Increafeth  Severne. 
In  Glamorganfhlre  you  haue  a  to    ne  bearing  the  name  of  Aber-Avon ;  as  if  wee  faid  the  mouth  of 
the  riuer;  and  in  Monmouth  &  Merioneth  in  each  of  them  one  of  that  name.     And  that  work  of 
admirable  magnificence  built  by  Cardinal  Wolfey,  in  oftentation  (as  it  was  faid)  of  his  abundant 
riches,  Hampton  Court,  now  a  royal  palace  of  our  Soveraigne,  was  firft  called  Avon  in  that  it  flood 
on  the  river  as  Leland  avoucherh — 

Nomine  ab  antique  lam  tempore  dlftus  Avona. 
Hampton  Court  is  the  fame 
In  elder  time  that  Avon  had  to  name. 
And  as  if  it  had  not  byn  foe  onely  in  the  Bryttlfh  fpeech,  wee  find  it  alio  in  the  fherlfdome  of  Ster- 
Kr»g,  in  Scottland,  tliat  Hadrianus  the  Empcrour  or  his  adooted  Titu^  ^Jius  Hadrianus  Ajitonius 

Fius, 


176  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

moft  of  our  antiquaries  recur,  in  fettling  the  etymology  of  Britifh  words.  But  the  nam'^S 
of  ovir  rivers,  {a)  were  certainly  prior  to  the  Phenicians— names,  which  they  prefcrve 

to 

Plus,  or  his  Lieutenant  Lollius  Vrbius  did  for  the  defence  of  the  country  cre£t  a  wall  of  turfe  which 
began  as  the  Scots  write  at  Avon  (or  the  ry\-5r  Avon)  that  falleth  into  Edenborrow  Frith.  And  that 
it  was  foe  in  more  languages,  which  haue  little  concurrence  now  with  our  fpeech  (perchance  an- 
tiently  all  one)  in  the  kingdome  of  Ireland,  in  the  counties  of  Corke  &  Waterford,  ther  runneth  the 
ryver  (now  latelv  of  vs  called  Broadwater  but  in  paffed  times)  Avon-more  the  great  or  broad  ryver, 
on  the  banckes  wliereof  ftandeth  Ardmore,  of  which  place  &  ryver  Necham  long  fmce  verfifieth  thus 
Et  vrbem  Lyfmore  pertranfit  flumen  Avon-more 
Ardmore  cernitvbi  concitns  asquor  adit. 
And  as  we  fay  commonly  in  our  vulgar  phrafe,  when  go  you  to  tfie  towne,  not  giving  It  any  name, 
whither  it  bee  London,  Yorke,  or  Exeter,  but  meaning  the  neareft  :  foe  wee  alfoe  fay  /hall  wee  goe 
to  the  ryver  (to  Avon)  whether  it  bee  Thames,  Oufe,  or  Exe.  'but  to  conclude  all  by  the  fentence 
of  the  didtator  of  knowledge,  whofe  words  I  will  onely  exemplifie.  Avon  in  the  Brytti/h  fpeech 
(faytli  Mr.  Cambden)  importeth  a  ryver,  whereof  Aventowne  takes  denomination,  which  is  no  more 
ftrange  then  in  the  fame  fignification  (to  omit  many  other)  Watertowne,  Ryvertowne,  &  Bourne  : 
and  as  the  Latines  haue,  Aquinum  et  Fluentum.  1  am  not  fo  apelike  affeded  to  this  my  conjeduie 
as  to  apolaud  it ;  neither  haue  I  reafon  to  feare  oppofition,  for  this  aetiologie  can  neither  feeme  harlh 
or  abfurd,  m  regard  the  words  are  foe  confonant,  &  the  name  alfoe  as  a  true  pidlure  doth  plainly 
reprefent  the  things  which  in  etimologies  is  chiefly  required  &  fought  after.  Others  haue  alleaged 
the  like  of  other  countries,  authors  of  great  credit.  Jvo  Carntenfis  affirmeth  that  Aquitania  (a  great 
dukedome  in  Ffrance,  well  neer  a  third  part  thereof)  tooke  name  de  Aquis  of  waters.  Junius  main- 
tained that  Denmark  tooke  denomination  from  Denne,  firr-trees.  Verftegan  allegeth  out  of  Engel- 
hnjius  that  the  Saxons  tooke  appellation  from  their  fwords  or  knives,  which  the  Seaxen  or  Seaxe^ 
(it  v^'as  with  fuch  they  made  the  maflacre  of  the  nobilitie  vpon  the  plaines  neer  AmefTjuiy).  Another 
t^rould  haue  foe  named  of  Saxum,  a  ftone,  as  ftony-hearted.  My  conjedure  may  feeme  as  probable 
as  either  of  thefe  :  bt2t  I  can  neither  perfuade  nor  intreat,  but  leaue  it  to  your  favourable  opinion^ 
hoping  it  ihall  feeme  noe  m3r\'ell  or  ftrange  to  fee  my  blindnefs  grope,  fiith  thofe  that  fee  perfeftly 
and  are  fliarpeft  fighted  cannot  find  a  right  way.  It  is  alfoe  written  of  the  Bryttaines  by  Gyldas  that 
they  yielded  divine  worfliip  to  waters  &  riuers ;  as  in  cold  water  or  ordial  tryall  (as  they  termed  it) 
for  difcouerie  of  witchcraft ;  wheiein  their  opinion  was,  that  the  element  of  water  was  foe  pure,  that 
it  would  not  fuffer  itfelfe  to  bee  contaminated  by  receiving  the  bodies  of  any  fuch  vile  &  reprobate 
perfcn,  though  caft  thereinto  bound  hand  and  foot  ;  but  that  the  witch  would  fwim ;  for  if  hec 
}^ck  they  were  held  guiltlefs  &  prefently  drawn  on  land.  It  is  not  for  chrlftians  to  make  fuch  vfe 
of  ryvers,  or  to  truft  them  foe  farrj  yet  are  wee  to  take  it  as  a  great  bleffing  of  the  Almightie  that 
wee  haue  fuch  ftore,  to  inrich  our  grounds  &  as  the  kingly  prophet  fayth, 

Hee  fendeth  fprings  into  the  brookes 

That  runn  among  the  hills 

Wherewith  wild  alfes  quench  their  third 

And  all  hearts  drink  their  fills. 
But  yet  it  was  not  the  Biyttaines  alone  that  had  their  ryvers  in  this  efiimation,  for  the  Germaines  did 
the  like  of  the  river  Rhyiie,  making  it  a  judge  in  quertion  of  defiled  wedlock  :  and  thofe  of  TheflTaly 
had  the  like  of  Paneus  for  his  pleafures  profitts  &  vertues.  Julius  Solinus  afcribeth  the  like  propertie 
to  a  fpring  in  Sardinia  for  the  tryall  of  theft,  for  svhofoeuer  by  oath  denyed  the  faft  &  wailied  his  eyes 
with  the  water  thereof,  if  hee  fwore  truly  his  fight  became  the  clearer,  but  forfwearing  himfelfe^ 
the  culp  was  prefently  difcouefed  by  his  blindnefs,  &  the  delinquent  was  forc't  to  cor.fefs  the  fadt 
in  darknefs  with  loft  of  his  fight.  But  in  this  ordeal  triall  (though  the  way  bee  fpatious  and  plea- 
fant^  I  will  lead  you  noe  farder.  But  leaving  the  better  explanation  of  the  "name  of  Devon  to  him 
that  can  with  Nauius  Cotem  novacula  fcindere  ;  and  tell  you  how  &  when  Deuon  &  Cornwall  weie 
diuided  &fundred."     fFe^cote,  p.  i,  io  p.  7.        _  .,,t  . 

(a)  The  late  Rev.  Richard  Lewis,  of  Honiton,  in  a  letter  to  Dean  Mules,  dated  June  20th,  1757* 
makes  the  foUowing  remarks  on  the  names  of  our  ri-vers,  ntountdlrs,  tcnvnt,  and  caftlci.  «  Mr,  Baxter, 
in  his  moft  valuable  gloftary,  would  willingly  believe,  that  all  places  of  not^  in  Devon  and  Cornwall, 
rferive  their  oriein  from  Britifh  fountains ;  and  I  can't  help  thinking  that  he  is  for  the  moft  part  in 
the  rig 
impref 

ineenuuVin VhvTe'riv'^ti^  ''^o'''^*  ^nd  account  of  places.  This  judicious  author  makes  the  know- 
ledee  of  the  Britifti  language  fo  necenf^ry  an  ingredient  in  the  compofition  of  an  antiquarian,  that 
without  it  he  thinks  it  impofiible  to  inveftigate  the  meaning  either  of  the  antient  or  even  the  modern 
names  of  places.  In  his  Epiftola  Dedicatoria,  he  obfen-es,  '  Vix  opus  elTe  videtur  nt  moneam  Anti- 
quario  Britannico /.r.;/r/.  tjfc  r.ccepanjm  Britannicae  Linguae  peritiam ;  ob  hujus  tamen  'nfcmanf 
lulti  nee  parvi  nmlnli  viri  non  raro  in  errores  incidere.'    The  rules  which  Mr.  Baxter  has  colleaerf 


The     BRITISH     PERIOD.  177 

to  ttie  prefent  hour ;  "  ftill  as  they  flow,  referring  us  to  that  remarkable  era  in  our  hif- 
tory,  when  the  Britifli  ftag  took  flicker  in  their  ftreains  from  the  chace,  or  the  Britifll 

warriors 

from  his  friend  Mr.  Llhuyd,  for  the  derivation  of  words,  are  almoft  an  unerring  guide  for  arriving  at 
their  true  meaning.  Now  places  take  their  names  from  things  or  circumJl.Tnces  coeval  with  the  places 
themfelves  j  feldom  from  any  modem  impro'ueimuts  in  arts  and  fciences ;  feldom  from  things  or  cir- 
cumftances  of  a  precarious  nat  ire.  They  are  generally  derived  iVom  the  names  of  the  rivers  near 
which  they  are  fituated.  Sometimes,  indeed,  they  are  named  agreeably  to  therr  fituation,  foil,  &c. 
as  Church  Staunton  or  Stoneton,  and  Clayheydon,  in  Devon ;  where  the  name  of  the  one  parilh  is 
derived  from  the  clay  or  dirty  foil  for  which  it  is  remarkable  j  and  the  name  of  the  other  from  the 
number  of  Jlones  or  rods,  which  are  found  in  aJmoft  every  part  of  it.  But  mod  places  of  any  note 
In  the  kingdom  are  named  from  the  ri'vers  which  run  near  them  ;  as  Exeter,  Taunton,  Dorchefter, 
and  many  others.  Exeter  being  the  Calirum,  Arx,  or  Civitas  upon  the  Exe  orlfc  :  Taunton  the  town 
upon  Tone,  or  the  Britilh  word  TaVs  :  Dorchefter  the  Caftrum  upon  the  Dur,  All  which  words,  Exe, 
Ifc,  Tone,  Taw,  Dur,(i)  and  a  great  many  more  in  the  Britilh  tongue  fignify  water  or  a  river.  • 

Of  the  Names  of  Rivers. 

I.  In  the  time  of  the  old  Britons,  Ifc,  Afc,  Efc,  Ofc,  and  Ufc  (all  which  words  fignify  water)  were 
names  of  feveral  rivers.  The  Englifh  or  Saxons  partly  retained  the  fame  names,  efpecially  in  the  north, 
and  partly  changed  them  into  Ax,  as  in  Axmouth,  Axley,  Axholm  ;  into  Ex,  as  in  Exmouth,  Exeter  ; 
into  Ox,  as  in  Oxford,  or  Oiifcfoid  ;  and  into  Ux,  as  in  Uxbrid^e.  Tiiefe  alterations  wert  probably 
owing  to  the  pronunciation  of  the  Britons.  The  Saxons  mig!u  fancy  tht  £ritifh  pronunciation  to  be 
too  rough  and  guttural,  and  for  the  better  founds  fake  they  very  likely  changed  Afc,  Efc,  Jfc,  Uyfc, 
&c.  into  Ax,  Ex,  Ux,  &c.  This  is  certain,  that  the  Saxons,  for  want  of  underftanding  the  Britifh 
tongue,  took  the  Britifh  appe/btii-es  for  the  proper  names  of  rivers.  Whereas  the  words  abovemen- 
tionsd  fignify  nothing  but  water,  and  retain  the  fame  fignification,  to  this  day,  in  Ireland  and  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland.  2.  There  are  feveral  rivers  called  Taw,  Tav,  Tivi,  or  as  they  wtre  anciently 
written,  Tam  and  Tim  (from  whence  Thames  and  the  Tamar  in  Devon).  Now  Taw,  Tav,  &c.  fig- 
nify ortly  water  or  a  river:  Tam  is  certainly  the  fame  with  Txf/.ns  in  the  word  Ylora.[/.oi.  ■^.  Others 
are  called  Guy,  Uy,  Uys,  Ey,  Y,  and  I,  i.e.  the  water  in  fuch  a  place;  and  they  are  as  often  the 
final  fyllables  of  our  rivers  as  Tav,  Tiv,  Tam,  &c.  are  the  initial  ones.  4.  Others  are  named  Llhyr* 
which  word  alfo  fignifies  water.  5.  Clet,  Cluyd,  Clyd,  &c.  are  iikewife  proper  names  of  rivers  in 
Scotland  and  Wales  ;  whereas  they  fignify  nothing  more  than  a  river  or  brock  in  general,  6.  Mar 
and  Mor  fignify  a  large  brook  or  river,  as  well  as  the  fea,  and  give  names  to  feveral  livtrs  in  Wales. 
Laftly,  fome  rivers  take  their  denominations  from  the  colour  of  their  fand  or  gravel.  Others  are 
metaphorically  denominated  from  the  nature  cf  their  cun-eiit,  with  regard  to  their  rapidity,  flownefs, 
Itraitnefs,  or  windings.  Others  from  (ome  remarkable  trees  or  plants  growing  on  their  banks.  And 
others  have  no  otiier  name  than  that  of  the  -jiUage  they  pafs  by. 

Of  the  Names  of  Mountains  or  Hills. 

The  moft  common  way  cf  naming  hills  was  by  metaphors,  drawn  from  the  feveral  parts  of  ths 
human  body.  Thus  fome  were  called,  Y  Voel,  bald-pr.te — Y  Benglog,  a  fkull — Tal,  the  forehead— 
Cern,  one  fide  of  the  face — Ael,  an  eye-lid — Liyg.id.  an  eye — Rhyn,  a  nofe — Genaw.  a  mouth — Pen, 
the  head — Munugl,  the  neclk — Guar,  the  nape  of  the  neck — Braich,  an  arm — Bron,  the  breaft — Keil, 
the  belly — Clun,  the  hip — Cevan,  the  back — Yftlys,  the  fide— Bontin,  the  buttock — Efgair,  a  leg— 
and  Troed,  a  foot. 

Of  the  Names  of  Cities,  Towns,  Caftles,  and  Villages. 

1.  Tin  or  Din,  was,  according  to  the  GuydheJian  BritKh,  Tun-  or  Dun,  and  is  fo  ufed  by  the 
Highlanders  and  IrlHi.  The  Ro.nrns,  in  their  orthography  cf  the  word,  agreed  with  them  rather' 
than  us.  For  they  wrote  Uxellodunum,  Neocunum,  and  not  Uxellodinum,  Neo.iinum,  &c.  2.  Maes 
(a  field  or  plain)  was  called  Magh.  This  the  Romans  wrote  Magus.  3.  Caer  is  a  town,  which  t!>e 
Old  Enghfn  turned  inco  Ceafir,;  and  afterwards  into  Cejier,  Cift:r,  and  Cbcficr;  and  is  the  fame  with 
the  Romans  Caflriim.  4.  Tre,  though  ar  firrt  it  fi^nified  only  d  fa:r.i,'y,  denotes  a  tcivn.  5.  Lli  an 
or  Lan,  fignifieth  a  church.,  though  it  originally  dem  ted  an  incl.jurc.  La(\ly,  the  moft  general  way 
of  naming  towns  among  the  Britons  was,  as  before  hinted,  from  the  rivers  on  which  they  were  fitu- 
ated ;  as  we  find  by  the  Rom«n  towns  in  Wales,  Ifca  Legionum,  Gobannium,  Nidum,  Leucarum, 
Conovium,  and  Segontium,  which  were  all  made  out  of  the  Britilh  names  Uyfc,  Kevni,  Nedh,  Lly- 
chur,  Conui,  and  Seiont. 

I'hefe  things  being  premifed,  I  propofe  to  mention  feme  places  frcm  the  head  of  the  river  Otter 
to  Ottertoit,  where  it  empties  itfelf  into  the  fea.     And   then  beginning  at  Exeter,  to  purfue  the  fea 

coafl 

(ij  Afc,  Efc,  Ifc,  Ofc,  Vic,  which  the  Saxons  pronounced  Ax,  Ex,  Ox,  Ux.  As  alfo  Avon,  Alain,  Dur,  Dwr,  Trean, 
Tiome.  Guy,  Uy,  l')S,  Ey,  V,  I.  Tam,  Thame.  Taw,  Tav,  Tiv,  Tauy,  Tivy,  Teivn.  Taun,  Tone.  AU  which  wordiCgnify 
water. 

Vol.,  I,  Z 


irS  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

warriors  were  m ullered  on  their  banks  for  fight."     But,  as  the  aboriginal  Britons  and 
Pheniciani  had  one  common  origin,  it  is  difficult  to  dilcriniinate  between  the  language 

of 

coaft  as  far  as  lyii.  The  river  Otter  ^as  it  i;  new  cilled)  riles  in  a  panfh  calied  Ottcrfird^  in  the 
countN-  of  Svnicnet,  which  is  no  more,  in  c.^rn  ncn  lijaincation,  than  the  fpring  or  fountain  head 
c:  t'-e  rirer  On2r.  No-v  I  would  lappoie  tr.e  oid  B  iiilb  name  to  be  jf  ZJtr^r,  ths  water,  which  the 
--.";i."^ -Saxons  at'terwardi  fofttned  lc:o  Otter.  Camdeo,  indeed,  deri^ts  the  name  of  the  river  from 
t~-:  p.u.-nber  of  water  do^s,  called  0:ti':,  which  are  found  in  it.  But  I  cannot  find  that  it  is  more 
pscuiiariy  remarkable  tor  this  kind  of  animals  than  other  rivers  in  tiiis  county  are.  The  firft  pariih 
upca  this  river  is  Uj>-Ortcrt,  which  according  to  the  En^ifh  name  denotes  its  fituaticn  up  the  river. 
Miticm's-Ontry  is  the  ■  exi  remarkable  place  on  the  river.  Frtmn  thence  the  river  rfefctnds  to  Hcm- 
wt,  which,  it  there  is  any  thing  in  the  ecvmcHogy  of  Mr.  Camden,  of  the  river,  may  be  derived  from 
the  6ri:ith  words,  Cwn  y  Ton,  i.e.  0|^dum  Caninae  Aquee :  Cwn  figaifying  dogs  and  the  water. 
The  oriy  iiScuIty  is  about  the  C's  being  changed  into  H.  And  to  folve  this,  it  is  to  be  obferved, 
tha-  fjc'i  a  change  was  very  frequent  from  the  Briciih  languAge  into  the  Anglo-Saxon.  See  the 
word  f  ij.'  in  Ley's  edition  of  Francilcus  Junius,  which  is  deduced  from  the  Welch  word  CjJJr:-^ 
^cordicf  to  Mr.  Llhuyd,  K  or  C  in  H  motato,  qoani  mutationem,  fays  the  editor,  non  irifrequencem 
plnribus  dccet  exemplis.  Qualia  funt  Kellyn  Holly — Kom,  Hrni,  &c.  Below  Honitcalies  H'unlm- 
fhr,  in  the  panib  or  BokereL  I  prelume  it  may  be  derived  from  the  Briiilh  words  /i*"-  R'tfu  TVe, 
C--i-'.uiTi  ac  raf^na  fiumLr.is,  it  being  very  remarkable  that  t!ie  rit'ge  of  hiUs  running  through 
S--r  rl  pariih  termicices  above  this  village  in  the  fhape  of  a  roan's  nofe.  Vpaa  the  river  W«//i 
wiiici-.  f  Jls  into  the  Otter  at  Wairinftoii,  lies  the  pariih  of  j^i.";,.isi,  furrounded  by  Henbury  fort, 
and  the  ridge  adjoining,  to  the  north  and  eai'^  acd  the  ridge  in  Bokerel,  to  the  we^l  and  by  fouth. 
I  would  fetch  the  original  of  this  place  firom  jli\  hy  C»«,  i.  e.  Supcrcilium  valJis  aquofx ;  which 
anfwers  extremely  well  to  its  firuadon.  Below  WarrinfloD,  the  river  Otter  v^aQies  |he  pariih  of 
BsiereJ  to  the  footh  thereof;  which  word  may  be  deduced  firom  the  words  Si^u  or  Bi  Pecuaria 
Vaccara-Ti,  K:r  cer^-us  and  j-J  fuperdiiuni,  and  fignifies  fuperciUum  monts  jnxta  quod  Pecuaria 
Vaccart:nn  efl  vei  cervcrura  Grex.  There  bdog  a  tidge  of  hxlls  running  through  the  nu.-idle  of  the 
pariih  exa^y  refemWing  an  eye  lid.  (See  she  woni  Bovium  in  Baxter's  Gloffiry).  V.  hat  favcL<is 
tfils  coiije<fhire,  is,  that  the  gicatefl  part  of  the  pariih  is  peculiarly  fitted  for  a  dairy  j  red  that  there 
was  a  tioted  park  there  in  former  times  ;  and  that  Deer  Park,  is  fuppcfed  to  be  the  ancient  iodge  of 
this  pirk.  Add  to  this,  that  the  deeds  of  Matthew  de  Backingron,  were  fealed  with  a  deer's  head, 
as  his  proper  arms.  Oppoite  to  Bokere!,  and  the  other  fide  of  the  Otter  Ues  Ci«?^»r,  through  which 
is  the  road  from  Hoolton  to  Exeter,  where  a-e  evident  retr.sins  of  a  Roman  road.  This  word  may  be 
derived  from  the  Britlfh  words,  G::lih  Silva,  vj  Aqua,  and  Hiiv.  \-ica5,  i.  e.  a  town  on  a  wcodj  rivuitt, 
which  is  very  appotite  to  its  Ctuation.  The  chief  cbje'cHcn  which  will  lie  againfi  the  British  etj  roo- 
lory  of  the  above  ;:!ace3  is,  that  they  cannot  be  fuppofed  to  he  of  tug'citnt  antiquit)'  to  be  entitled 
to  fuch  an  exraSicn.  The  anfwer  I  weald  give  to  it,  is,  that  there  are  fo  m^ny  marks  of  RcMnao 
andqoitles  in  and  near  the  faid  pariChes.  that  as  it  is  certain  they  were  kisown  to  the  Remans,  fo  it 
mull  be  probable,  that  the  names  had  their  exifter.ce  in  the  time  of  the  EritonS.  It  is  a  thir.g  not 
to  be  ccnrrcverted,  that  the  Romars  left  the  Briti/h  names  of  places  as  they  found  them :  except 
that  in  places  of  r.cte,  they  added  a  Latin  tennlcaticn  to  the  old  British  word,  and  in  othtr  refpeds 
l^i-ilzid  the  fame.  Below  Buckerel,  at  the  head  of  a  little  rivulet,  which  taJ'.s  into  the  Oite/.  is 
Ferr}t:e,  which  is  certainly  nothing  elfe  but  a  compc^tioa  of  Pns,  j.  Tie,  i.  e.  Villa  z6  caput  iquae. 
I  cwn  I  ciT'Xit  five  a  fatisfadory  etymology  of  Otrery ;  w£i«h,  however,  was  ar.clcnt-'y  written 
jiv'-Ti.  as  I  l^.nd  it  in  old  Oiaps.  On  fuppoClion  that  tills  was  its  oli  name,  iomay  co:ne  from  j*i 
T'.',  i.e.  OppId-jiTi  ad  aquam.  I  would  willingly  believe  this  town  to  be  known  to  the  Romans,  ca 
r.cccantof  is  vicinity  to  Wocdbcry  and  Belbur>-  catllci.  of  wSuch  hereafter.  The  river  Oner  Ie.iT- 
in<  the  laft  town,  not  far  from  which  it  ruru,  dcfcenJs  to  Harf-rd,  which  I  wocld  make  as  be  Uar, 
Fordh,  i.  e.  TraieSus  Aqux.  This  is  undoubtedly  the  pliCsr  «here  the  river  is  croScd  in  .Aatonl- 
n:"j  Iter,  from  Ifcato  Moridunnm.  Oppcfite  to  Harford,  on  the  other  fide  of  the  river,  is  Tcr.-Oatrff 
which  lies  oncer  Woodbury-hiD,  above  the  Ot^,  which  may  net  ucr^turaiiy  be  deduced  from  Pen 
J  D-^r,  i.  e.  ad  captit  Aqnse.  The  river  then  paffijig  through  0:ifr:i':,  empties  itfeif  into  the  fa. 
This  place  nrjy  probably  be  fetched  from  j  iikir  Tsr.r,  i. e.  Oppidum  aqua:  vel  ad  aquam.  I  find 
thi»  place  in  feme  authors  is  called  ^tnkmmht,  which  nuy  fignify  in  tlis  ErJtIih  tong-.ie  Domes  vel 
ViCula  aqooiae  vallis,  from  *jr,  rf,  caau  1  would  now  beg  leave  tt>  vist  you  it  Exettr^  and  the 
favour  of  your  company  as  far  as  Ljmt,  opon  the  fea  coad,  near  which  place  ycu  maft  neccffari!y 
trivel  in  yocr  own  pqfoinvance,  if  not  in  my  route.  This  famous  city  is,  as  is  agreed  en  all 
hands,  the  Ifca  Danmonicmm,  though  fome  have  inj-^idicioufiy  ccrfoonded  it  with  the  Ifca  Sila- 
rum,  which  is  Cur  Z,c3«,  in  :•  cnmcuthlhirc,  in  Wal^s.  It  is  now  called  by  the  WeMh  Cjtr  Ifr, 
i.  e.  Oppidum  aquas.  And  the  county  of  Devon,  Du^nlnt  (or  eiie  Dn^^ntha,  which  fignifies  deep 
▼allies)  from  wher.cs  Daanomi.  The  next  town,  which  is  To^panty  and  which  V.x.  Baxter  erro- 
neoafly  foppofes  to  be  the  MoriJmimm  of  Antonine,  is,  as  the  l^e  author  would  have  it,  derived 
fna^  Keff*^  Seoy  Hex,  \.  e.  Oppidum  ad  capat  maiis — the  word  K:ff*  fignifying  in  the  Britilh 

tei^oer 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  179 

ton<ue  Caput  vel  vertex.  PofTit  erUm.  faith  he,  T'jprjham  correpte  dici  pro  Tt^ppaham.  Not  far 
fro.Ti  Topfham,  on  the  river  Exe,  \i  Limpjl.ne,  which  may  eafily  be  deduced  iomLim,  u:,  t-^n,  i.  e. 
the  town  on  a  rapid  Itream.  Below  Limpllone  is  Exmouth  (the  l/xdii  in  Raveniias)  i.  e.  Ifcx  Ortium. 
The'word  L'x.lis  being  nothing  elfe  but  Uch,  ac/,  J/c,  Sive  Super  Supercilium  Aquas.  Over  againft 
Exmouth,  but  foniething  lo/jtr  is  Ke,.r.n,  the  Vercenia  of  the  antients — the  word  Vercenia  being 
as  it  were  uar  Ktud,  ui,  Sive  fuper  caput  undas,  quod  eft  prope  amnem.  De  Ibrida  voce,  faith 
Baxter,  iCenton  ;  et  Fluviolus  hodie  dicitur  Ken,  rilu  fcquioris  <evi.  CrolFingthe  river  Exe  again,  we 
come  to  S'lctmourb,  abc>ve  which  is  SidforJ,  and  higher  up  S'tdhury^  called  by  the  anonymous  writer 
Tidertis,  forfan  iiritannii,  faith  Mr.  Baxter,  dicebatur  lud,  ar  Tijc,  five  populus  vel  curia  ad  Tif- 
cam,  ut  et  Sidbury  and  Sidm'iuth  ibrida  dicantur  compohtione.  NotifTimum  eit  Dumnoniorum  veteri 
DialeQo  dici  poteft  Sid  proTid,  Sicutl  et  Goes  pro  Coet.  More  to  the  eaft  from  hence  is  BrarJcmb, 
where  three  vahs  center  rear  the  church;  through  each  of  which  very  rapid  flreams  run  and  unite 
there.  So  tb.tt  accor  iing  to  Mr.  Baxti^r  s  eightli  rule,  concerning  proper  names  of  rivers,  it  may  be 
denominated  vailis  citae  aqus,  from  Bran,  a  crew.  He  obferves,  that  there  is  a  brook  of  this  name 
by  Lan  Gollen,  in  De'.ibighfhir?,  whence  the  name  cf  Dinas  Bran :  There  are  two  or  three  mere 
Brans  in  Brecknockftiire  and  CarmarchenlhJre,  fo  called  from  their  f^ift  current.  Not  far  from 
hence  is  Biere,  for  which  1  can  find  no  anti&Tit  name.  But  I  think  it  may  corifntently  be  fuppofed 
ro  be  of  antlent  note,  and  may  be  derived  from  Ber,  Rbui,  ac  fi  dicatur,  faith  Baxter,  crus  Rivi, 
About  a  mile  fro.Ti  Beere  is  Heaton,  wliich  was,  undoubtedly,  the  Moridunum  in  Antonines  iter  a 
Calleva  ad  Ifcam.  It  is  fo  called  fram  Mcr,  y,  D^n,  i.  e.  Oppidum  magnae  iindae  five  maris  :  to 
which  the  prefent  nsme  ieaton  exaflly  corr«fponds.  Oppofite  to  Seaton,  on  the  other  fide  of  the 
river,  i%Axmouih,  which  is  one  of  thofe  plat,es  in  which  the  Saxons  changed  the  old  Britifh  vord 
Ifc  into  Ax,  and  called  it  Axmouth,  it  being  fituated  rear  the  mouth  of  the  river,  i.  e.  near  the  point 
where  the  river  difcharges  itfelf  into  the  Csa.  If  this  place  was  a  town  in  the  time  of  the  Romans 
(which  is  much  to  be  doubted)  its  old  name  was  probably  Uxeln,  which  they  m^de  out  as  at  Ex- 
mouth,  from  Uch,  Atl,  h,  that  is,  a  town  upon  the  brink  of  the  water.  A  little  to  the  north  of 
Axmouth,  on  the  Colly,  which  falls  into  the  Ax,  ftands  CoiHun,  which  fignifies  a  town  upon  the 
Hazle  Brook,  from  Co'lyh,  y,  Tun.  Below  it  is  Ccl.'yfcrd,  i.  e.  Corylorum  amnis  trajeftus.  In  the 
Britifti  tongue  it  would  have  been  CcUh,y,  Fcrdh,  a  p^fage  over  an  hazle  brook  or  river.  And  now 
we  are  arrived  at  Lyn:e,  which  though  it  is  in  Dorfetfhire,  is  yet  fo  very  near  the  limits  of  Devcn, 
that  I  thought  it  rvo  imp-'oper  ftage  to  reft  at.  This  place  is  thojght  by  Mr.  Camden  to  be  cf  no  great 
antiquity.  And  yet  from  the  great  an-.iquiry  Mr.  Llhuyd,  we  learned  that  the  Britons  called  It  Lih'.!:g 
Pordk,  i.  e.  according  to  Mr.  Baxter,  a  po:t  for  the  reception  of  fl-iips.  And  though  the  town  has 
been  reduced  more  t.i<.n  once  to  a  low  ebb  with  rerard  to  trade,  yet  it  was  probably  inhabited  in  the 
ti.Tie  of  the  Romans.  It  took  its  nan.e  from  the  river  L\n.  or  i-jn  y,  which  runs  through  it :  ard 
sccordingiy  the  name  which  the  Romans  gave  to  it  (if  crtcit  may  be  given  to  one  of  their  corrupt 
itinera  judicionfly  correfVedj  was  L\m':a,  which  with  the  addition  of  a  Litin  termination  is  no  more 
than  the  Britifn  words  X)v»j-,  i.  e.  a  rapid  ftream.  Camden,  indeed,  as  1  obferved,  informs  us,  that 
we  fcarce  meet  vith  the  name  of  Lyme  in  antient  bocks;  which  is  ver)'  true;  and  from  thence  it 
may  be  concluded  that  it  was  not  a  port  cf  any  confeqnence  till  fome  tiniC  after  the  Romans  left  our 
jfland.  However,  Camden  himfcli  tell,  us,  that  R,  Kii'.wlf,  in  the  year  774,  gave  in  the  following 
words,  '  the  land  of  one  manfion  to  the  ciiurch  of  Scireburn,  near  the  wtftern  biirks  of  the  river 
Lym,  and  not  far  from  t'le  pl.ce  where  it  fails  into  the  fea,  fo  lor.g  as  for  the  faid  church,  fait  ft-.ouid 
be  boiled  there  tor  the  f applying  of  various  wants.'  From  ti^is  old  reco.'d  it  appears,  nrft,  that  at 
Lyme,  fait  was  made  in  tiie  eighth  century,  and  confequently  that  there  muit  have  been  inhabitar.ts 
to  attend  upi>n  the  bufmefs.  Secondly,  that  the  river  was  known  by  the  name  of  Lyr,:,  which  is 
Briti!}),  and  fignities  rapid  ;  that  confequently  this  was  a  place,  not  only  known  to  the  eld  Britons, 
fcnt  probably  inhabited  by  tlrtm,  till  the  Romans  drove  them  into  Wales,  Cornwall,  and  ti.e  northern 
parts  oi  the  Jcngdcm.  And  thus,  Sir,  1  have  prefumed,  being  confefledly  a  blin'-  guide,  to  condudt 
you  as  far  Ti'iLyme,  if  your  patience  has  held  out  to  bear  me  comp.-»ny.  A  dry  dilfertation  upon  words 
is  certainly  of  the  opiate  kind,  unlefs  it  be  to  gentlemen  who  have  a  reJih;  for  antiquity.  And 
from  the  little  fmrtttring  I  have  in  this  refpeft,  I  have  learned  how  neceiTary  a  virtue  patience  is,  to 
make  any  proficiency  in  refearches  of  this  nature.  It  you  have  a  mind  to  iltep,  faid  a  frierc,  get 
into  a  quiet  room,  t,ke  an  ounce  o:  Tom  Hearne's  fopcrific  mixture,  add  to  it  a  fmall  quauity  of 
Vv  elch  etymology,  from  the  leirr.cd  Baxter's  Gloffliry,  and  work  with  it  a  night  draught  of  fcholai^ic 
nonfenfe  upon  abfdute  predel^ir..i'i'.n,  mcafured  by  an  iiour  glafs,  and  divided  into  ten  equal  parts; 
if  you  have  not  a  comiortai)Ie  reft  before  you  come  to  tenihly  and  hftly,  1  am  much  miilaken. 
Hov.ever,  /am  not^ifpleafed  with  the  JitUe  pains  I  liave  t^ken  in  enquiries  into  antiquities;  much 
kfs,  I  imagine,  can  yow  he',  who  have  cohef^ed  m::terials  furr.cient  to  execute  fo  general  a  plan  as 
yojir  queries  befpeak  your  intended  account  of  Devon  to  be.  Nor  indeed  dees  the  pleafure  which 
attends  this  fort  of  fludy,  arife  vholly  from  the  little  knowledge  which  a  rr.an  acquires  of  the  ge- 
ography of  his  ov.n  coui.tr;-,  of  the  antient  names  of  places,  of  their  Ctuation,  &c.  but  from  the  light 
which  fiich  kno'vledge  throws  upon  the  hi.'iory,  the  cuiloms,  and  exploits  of  our  anceflcrs ;  frcm 
the  Irifight  which  it  gives  us  into  the  great  and  furprizing  ?ilteration  made  on  tne  face  of  tilings  during 
a  period  of  about  J700  jeurs.  Tb^  antiquities  of  Britain  tonfjdertd  in  this  light,  cifplay  a  fcene 
Vol,  I.  Z  z  which 


i8o  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

which  is  worthy  the  notice  o*"  every  thinking  creature.  In  this  light  we  obferve  not  only  the  names 
ot  pi  ices  altered,  but  the  inoft  magnificent  wor!cs  of  powtr,  the  ftrength  and  pride  of  architedure 
humbl.;  i  and  reHuced  jnto  rubbiih  and  ruins.  In  this  light  we  obferve  providence  vifibly  interpofing 
in  the  adminirtration  and  revolution  of  affairs.  In  this  light  we  obftrve  the  fuprcme  Being  either 
punirtiing  or  rewarding  our  anceitors,  in  proportion  to  their  virtue  or  immorality;  and  leaving  mo- 
numents ot  the  divine  mercy  or  vengeance  in  almoft  every  age  to  this  very  day." 

Mr.  Chappie  (who  was  furniflied,  foon  after  Z'.s  undertaking  was  announced,  with  a  tranfcript  of 
this  MS.)  deterws,  alfo,  Come  attention  as  an  etymologiit.  His  etymologies  aie  drawn  from  various 
fourccs.  "  We  have  fome  uo:ds  (fays  he)  of  Britip  extraftion,  from  which  language  mof^  of  the 
nanies  of  the  rii-ers,  in  this  as  'ell  as  other  counties,  are  derived;  fo  that,  as  Mi.  H^'bhaker  cb- 
icrves,(i)  mod  of  them  retam  to  the  prefent  hour  the  names  which  were  impofed  upon  them  2000 
years  ago.  Eut  in  the  derivations  of  many  of  our  names,  both  of  ri-vert  and  placet,  we  muft  fre- 
quently conten  ourfelves  with  probable  gueiles,  rather  than  conclufive  dedudions  from  ary  certair» 
pnncipk-s :  And  the  heft  etymolo§i  fs  have  been  accufed  (the  learned  Baxter  particularly,  and  per- 
haps not  unjuflly )  of  being  fometimes  too  fond  of  fjr-ietch"d  and  improbable  derivations ;  of  preflTmg 
words  into  their  lervice,  and  deriving  from  them  whatever  might  be  agreeable  to  a  favourite  opinion ; 
and  in  (hort,  of  fubllituting  nieer  imagiration  or  conjedture  for  regular  analogy.  It  muA  however 
be  allowed  that  etymologies  have  their  ufe,  and  are  far  irom  being  always  frivolous  and  impertinent; 
and  however  uncertain  and  precarious  when  unfnpported  by  collateral  evidence,  they  frequently 
prompt  us  to  further  enquiries  by  which  we  are  led  to  more  certain  truths,  which  either  confirm  the 
ety;nology  by  concurrent  circumrtances,  or  tend  to  detedl  our  former  mirtakes  concerning  it.  Again, 
the  apparent  miflake  of  any  one  perfon  in  the  etymology  of  the  name  of  a  place,  may  induce  another 
to  attempt  a  corredion  of  that  miftake  ;  in  confequence  of  which  he  may  hit  upon  the  true  meaning 
of  the  name,  or  at  leall:  a  more  fatijfadory  guefs  at  it,  than  had  refulted  from  the  unfuccefsful  fearch 
of  the  former  :  And  this  may  alfo  be  a  fufficient  apology  for  any  attempts  of  this  kind  in  the  prefent 
work,  and  for  this  addition  to  the  text  of  cur  author,  who  feldom  meddled  with  etymologies.  Cut 
as  fome  who  have  been  but  little  conve:fjnt  in  enquiries  ot  this  fort,  may  imagine,  that  fuch  fop- 
pofed  derivations  of  the  names  of  our  rivers,  wherein  we  occafionally  have  recourfe  not  only  to  the 
ire'/h  and  Ccmijh,  but  alfo  to  the  Inp,  Erje,  and  Annoric,  and  in  fome  inftances  even  the  Greek  lan- 
guage,— are  rather  too  far  fetchd ;  and  tho'  they  may  acknowledge  fome  of  them  to  be  appellations 
receiv'd  trom  the  Brltcm  whilA  in  polieflion  of  this  county,  and  before  their  expuhion  by  K.Aihc/- 
Jiar,  yet  may  be  apt  to  :.fk,  with  what  propriety  we  ramble  into  Irelavd  or  Scotland  in  quefl  of  ex- 
plications ot  De^jonp'ire  names  ;  or  confult  the  fages  of  ancient  Greece  on  the  denominations  of  places 

they  never  pofiefs'd  ? It  may  be  proper  to  obferve,  in  anfwer  to  fuch  objeftors,— that  the  affinity 

of  the  l,\jh  and  Br'it'ijh  languages  is  taken  notice  of  by  Camden,  who  makes  no  doubt  but  that  the 
firrt  inhabitants  oi  Ireland  came  from  Britain;  (2)  and  among  other  evidences  of  it,  mentions  the 
many  Brltijh  words  in  the  Ir-Jh  tongue,  as  alfo  their  ancient  names  which  rtiew  themfelves  to  be  of 
Brhifo  extraiftion  :  In  lhort,''as  Mr.  ^c/ioc// obferves,  (3)  we  are  entirely  obliged  to  the  Ir'ip  lan- 
guage for  the  meaning  of  many  words  which  are  every-where  found  amongft  us ;  from  whence  he 
concludes  with  Camden,  that  the  hip?  were  probably  once  inhabitants  of  this  ifland,  and  went  from 
hence  to  Ireland.  But  T  pi efume,  the  agreement  of  Br'it'tp  and  h\Jh  words  and  names,  no  more 
proves  Ireland  to  he  peopled  from  Britain,  than  Britain  to  be  peopled  from  Ireland;  efpecially  if  the 
Irijh  have  preferv'd  (as  they  certainly  have)  the  ufe  and  fignification  of  many  words  which  the 
Britaus  have  loll."  For  tiie  following  etymologies,  Mr.  Ckapple  was  chiefly  indebted  to  Mr.  Li-wis 
of  Honitcn,  and  Mr.  Boj-wcll  oi  Taunton,  in  a  letter  of  his  to  Walter  Oke,  Efq.  then  of  Wbitlandsy 
in  Axmotitb,  De-Lon;  which  lettter  being  in  the  poffeflion  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mallock  of  Colyton,  he 
very  obligingly  favoured  me  (fays  Chappie)  with  the  loan  of  it,  at  the  rcqueft  of  my  worthy  friend 
Mr.  Thoir.ai  Whitty  oi  Axmirjle';  to  whom  I  am  moreover  obliged  for  many  interefting  obferva- 
tions  relative  to  divers  places  in  that  neighbourhood,  and  the  procurement  of  others  from  his 
friends,  which  will  he  duly  attended  to  in  the  particular  defciiptlcns  of  thofe  places  ;  the  prefent 
fubje<S  of  our  enquiiy  being  the  origin  of  the  names  of  our  ri-vers.  The  old  Britijh  names  of 
rivers,  Ac,  Ij'c,  or  £fc,  Oj'c,  Ufe,  and  Uyjc,  (in  Irilh  Uij'ge,  Conuih  I/ge,  Armoric  f^ijge,)  \<.hich  all 
fignity  iiarer,  were  partly  retain'd  by  the  Englp  Saxons ;  but  for  better  found's  fake,  and  perhaps 
fiom  a  diflike  to  the  rough  and  guttural  pronunciation  of  the  Briton:,  changed  into  Ax,  Ex,  Ox,  or 
O^Aj  i^'x  and  up.  Befides  the  rivers  which  thus  derive  their  names  from  Britip  words  which  fig- 
nity -water  or  a  ri-jer  appellatively,  there  are  others  of  a  feeond  clifs,  whofe  names  are  compounded 
of  B.itip  words  expreflTive  of  fome  qualities  of  their  water,  the  velocity  or  direflion  of  the  current, 
colour  of  their  fand  or  gravel,  &c. — The  names  of  thofe  of  a  third  clafs  are  either  wholly  of  Saxon 

origin,  or  partly  Britip  and  partly  Sax-^n A  fourth  clafs  of  rivers  are  metaphorically  denominated 

from  the  nature  of  the  current  only;  of  which  we  have  alfo  a  few  inftances  in  Devon  : — And  laftly, 
others  have  no  other  names  but  thofe  of  the  villages  fituated  near  them.  Etymologifts  have  men- 
tioned other  circumllances  from  which  rivers  take  their  names  ;  but  as  the<e  five  ciaflles  include 
moft,  if  not  all  thofe  iu  this  county,  and  which  may  on  that  account  claim  our  notice,  1  fhall  here 

particularize 

•(1;   See  hi»  Mancheficr,  p.  218.        fi)  Cibfon's  Cimd.  p.  966,  967.  (3)  Bofwell's  Method  of  Study,  vol.  1.  p.  48. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  i8i 

particularize  fuch  of  our  Dcvoirfkire  rivers  belonging  to  each,  as  have  hitherto  occurred  to  me,  in 
ajphabecical  order ;  adding  fome  obfervations.  conjecftures,  and  queries,  relative  to  the  etyi-nologies 
of  their  names  refpedively.  But  that  fuch  of  them  as  are  of  Britijh  derivation  may  be  the  better 
compared  with  their  fuppofed  originals,  it  may  perhaps  be  acceptab.e  to  fome  of  our  readers  (how- 
ever unnecefTary  for  others)  to  be  inform'd,  in  what  refpedls  the  TVelp  pronunciation  of  the  vowels 
differs  from  ours. — Their  A,  as  we  learn  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richards  and  otiiei  V-^-'fh  grammarians, 
is  pronounced  as  A  Englijh  in  the  word  man  ;  but  is  lengthen'd,  by  a  circumfie.x,  to  the  found  of 
our  a  in  aie,  pale,  &c.  Their  E,  if  acuted,  as  E  Englijh  in  men,  ten,  &c.  in  f.  me  inftances  as  e  in 
etr,  anjcr,  &c.  and  in  others  as  ee  in  ched^  ;  but  if  circumflex'd,  as  ca  in  the  word  lea^u\  o"-  as  e  in 
fcine-,  and  fometimes  as  ea  in  fti^r,  dear,  &c.  Their  J,  as  our  ee  in  tree,  or  as  i  in  thing  -.  1  Iieir  O, 
as  ours  in  the  word  gone;  if  circumflex'd,  as  o  in  bane  :  Their  U,  as  our  I  in  this,  hlifs.  Sec.  and  if 
circumflex'd,  as  our  cc  in  queen,  green,  &c.  Their  W  being  alfo  a  vowel,  and  agreeing  in  found  as 
well  as  rtiape  with  the  Greek  Omega,  is  pronouncd  as  o  in  the  E:  gijh  pronoun  nvbo  ;  but  if  cir- 
cumflex'd, as  00  in  root,  bo:t,  &c.  And  their  Y  (which  is  likewiic  one  of  their  vowels),  in  the 
Penulcima,  Antepenultiir.a,  &c.  is  founded  as  u  m  the  Englip  words  turn,  burn.  Sec.  but  in  the  ul- 
tima, or  in  monofyllables  (with  a  very  few  exceptions),  as  in  the  Englifh  tin,  Jk\n,  Sec.  and  if  cir- 
cumflex'd, as  ee  in  the  Englifh  meek,  feek,  &c.  —  To  thefe  rules  for  pronouncing  their  iioive/s,  we  may 
add,  that  among  the  lonfsr.anti  their  Dd  has  the  found  of  a  hard  The!,-:,  or  as  tk  in  the  En^hfti  rhou 
and  that;  alfo  thatr  their  F  (being  the  Molk  Dlgamma)  has  the  found  ot  our  V  confonani,  Hut  when 

doubled  (Ffj  is  foften'd  into  the  found  of  our  y;;'^^/^  F. Thefe  extracts  from  the  above- qujced 

author,  and  other  \i  riters  on  the  Br'itifo  pronunciation,  may  futSce  for  our  prefent  purpofe,  widiou* 
enlarging  here  on  the  various  fubftitutions  of  one  mutable  confcnant  for  another  in  that  flexible  lan- 
guage ;  tho'  fome  inftances  of  thefe  may  occur  in  our  intended  inquiries  into  the  etymologies  of  the 
names  of  our  rivers  refpsftively,  to  which  we  novir  proceed. 

I.  Of  xhtjirji  cbfs,  -viz.  of  names  of  rivers  derived  from  Br'::ijh  words  fignifying  merely  -water  or 
a  ri-ver,  this  county  affords  us  the  following:  ^nne  ot  Erm:.  Q^if /ar  a  river,  (or  perhaps  only 
the  prepafitive  article  Vr)  prefix'd  to  crn,  v%^ater  ?  m  in  the  Lath:  and  ancient  Celtic,  according  to 
Baxter,[i)  making  rj  in  the  Britijk  (or  rath.er  their /ufed  inflead  of  our  -j  ■. ;  fo  .4ir  is  the  fame  as 
a-v,  Undj  vel  ^mnis.  Or  ^/me  may  poflibly  come  from  the  Cornilh  Ara,  flow,  and  am,  water ;  but 
<i_if  this  derivation  can  be  juflined  by  any  lemarkahle  tardity  cf  its  current?  If  fo,  this  river  be- 
longs to  the  zd  clf.fs.  Note,  ylra  in  Gothic  fignifies  ivater,  and  Armor  in  Corn'Jh  a  wa-ve;  but  nei- 
ther of  thefe  feems  applicable  here,  unlefs  we  might  fuppofe  the  former  join'd  with  the  Britifh  am^ 
when  it  has  the  fame  figniflcation. — Atrcy,  pofl'ibly  Aivy-ter-y  the  ri^jcr  of  clear  ivater,  or  clear- 
svater  river  (fee  Otter). — A'von,  Avcn,  or  Azun  ;  Aim  or  Af<r^  in  B'iiijh,  fignifies  a  ri-ver,  as  already 
ohferv'd  ;  as  do  alfo  A-^on  and  Auan  or  Az'--jii  in  Corn.Jh,  and  Avan  ox  Abhan  in  Irifo. — Aivtre,  fee 
0tter. — Ax,  from  the  old  Br'.tifli  ^V,  v;?hJch  has  been  already  fhewn  to  fignify  uater. — Deer,  pro- 
bably from  the  Cornilh  Dcura,  {a  Divr,  Br.)  ivater;  unlefs  we  fuppofe  the  Saxons  c.il  d  it  Deor^ 
from  the  fwiftnefs  of  its  current ;  and  as  fuch  to  be  rank'd  in  the  3d  or  4th  clafs ;  but  the  former 
feems  p  eferable.  —Dciurijh  or  Doivrich-Br^ok,  poflibly  from  Divr,  and  tlie  old  Britilh  Ij'c^  or  Jrifh. 
Uijgi.  But  if  Divr-if:  hi  deem'd  an  unneceffary  jur^dlion  cf  two  Britijh  words,  both  fignifying  ivater^ 
(thu'  there  may  be  fome  inilances  of  the  like  in  other  names  of  rivers,)  we  may  fuppofe  it  a  com- 
pound of  B-it'iJh  and  Saxor,  and  refer  it  to  our  3d  clafs  :  If  fo,  Dicr  might  have  the  addition  ot  Ricgy 
a  ridge,  vi'hic!)  not  only  fignified  the  ridge  of  a  hi/!,  but  frequently  (as  we  may  have  occafion  elfe- 
where  to  obferve)  a  rais'd  military  lur.y  ;  and  this  if  Ricg  be  allowed  a  place  liere,  is  moft  likely  to 
be  its  meaning,  and  that  the  brook  having  imparted  its  name  with  this  addition,  to  Doivricb  barton, 
which  is  water'd  by  it,  might  at  length  be  imagined  to  have  bvirrow'd  that  name  from  it;  in  like 
manner  as  will  be  liereafter  obferv'd  concerning  Sturcombe  brook.  Wnat  is  here  faid  oi  Doivticb 
brook,  is  equally  applicable  to  the  Terridge  or  Taivridge,  changing  Dii'r  for  Ta-v  or  Tait,  or  ell'e  the 
D  in  the  former  into  T ;  theCe  being  occpfonally  commutable  letters  in  the  Bririfli  or  Wel/h  orthoi 
graphy — Fxe;  from  the  old  Britilh  Ijc.  W\ihU,jge,  fignifying  ivater  as  before  obferv'd.(;) — Forda  (or 
as  fometimes  called  Forder);  doubtlefs  from  the  Br.  Ffcidd,  a  ay  or  paifage,  with  the  addition  of 
da,  good  ;  or  elfe  of  au  water,  or  the  irifli  Aha  a  ford  j  denoting  a  fliallow  water-,  that  admits  of  an 
eafy  paiTige  thtough  or  over  it ;  a  fordable  brock. — Leiucr;  from  the  Br.  Llyr  or  Lhyr,  water  ;  for 
fo  it  fignified  anciently,  as  well  as  the  fea.(3) — LudLrook  and  Lyd  or  I. id ;  perhaps  from  Clyd,  a  river 
or  brook  5(4)  bur  if  derived  from  Llid  fury,  or  Lbuyd,  T:irbidus,[^)  or  the  Irifh  Luath,  fwift,  or  from 

the  Saxon  hlydar.,  tumultuous  or  noify,  they  belc>ng  to  the  2d  or  3d  clafs Lyff  ox  Lift ;  probably 

from  Llif,  (Corintli  Lyi^,  Armoric  Lifat  or  Linfat,)  a  flux,  flood  or  inundation,  an  o-erflowing  of 
waters — Lyn  ;  Llyr,  a  lake,  a  pool  in  a  riuer,  and  perhaps  alfo  a  currert.  Note,  rifulets  arc  in  Devon 
commonly  call'd  lakes. — Oldye  ;  Q^_  if  from  We'tlgi  or  Giveilgi,  which  in  Britip  fignifies  a  tvrrent  as 
well  as  th<i  jea  ?    Its  modern  name,  Shob-brcck  or  Sbobbrook-Lake,  being  of  Suxcn  derivation,  fails 

under 

(1)  See  Baxter's  GloCary,  p.  222.     Alfo  Lluvd  in  Baxter,  n   222. 

(2}  There  are  fome,  who  derive  Ifca  or  Ifcuu  fioai  w^oMi,  Jn  clacr  tree — fu  the  banks  of  the  river  Exe  are  faid  to  have 
been  OIKS  covered  w:tli  elders. 

(3;  S«  Lluid  ii!  Baxter,  p.  i;66.         (j)  Ibid.         (j;)  Ibid,  p.  271. 


i8z  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

under  our  3d  dafs,  which  fee  further  on — 0:t<r,  or  (as  call'd  in  fomeold  mapr,  &-c.)  Aivti-e;  Cam. 
<lens  fuppofition  thnt  It  took  its  name  from  the  number  of  Water-Dogs  culPd  Otters  found  in  it 
(which  fuppofes  it  5j.v;n),  lias  been  objecfled  to,  becaufe  thi;  river  is  no  more  remarkable  for  thefe 
animals  than  any  other;  wherefore  we  may  rather  fuppofe  (with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leivn)  its  old  name 
to  be  TDur,  i.e.  the  ivater,  which  thciihi  Englilh  Saxojis,  with  little  variation  in  the  found,  after- 
wards caird  Otter:  Or  if  its  name  fliould  rather  be  fpelt  Jivtie,  Q;_if  it  might  not  come  from  the 
Britifh  Aiveddivr,  which  lignifies  running  w..Vfr,  or  frejh  water  ?  or  elfe  from  Anvy,  an  old  Britifh 
word  for  a  r'lVi^r^  and  7cry  ctcjn,  pure,  clear;  and  fo  mean  ( Atoy  terj  the  clear  ri'uer  ?  Or  if  the 
Britons  gave  it  a  name  expreflive  of  that  rapidity  of  its  current  which  is  obfervable  in  fome  places, 
it  might  poflibly  be  fome  eld  Celtic  word  deiived  from  the  Greek  'Ot^-^j^os-  celer,  mipiger ;  on  which, 
as  well  as  on  the  two  former  fuppofitions,  it  fliould  belong  to  our  2d  clafs;  and  according  to  the  laft 
its  name  fpcit  Otrcr,  tho'  the  firit  r  would  be  lort  in  pronunciation.  Baxter  (i)  takes  it  to  be  Godr^ 
or  Odre,  a  boundary,  and  fays,  Ottery  was  formerly  the  limits  of  the  Dunmcnii  cr  Danmcinii ;  but  others 
itLsXyx.BorlaJe,  &c.)  think  the  r\\er  Exe  was  their  boundary  'till  K.  Aiheljlani  time. — Stour  or  i>tour- 
combe  Brook  ;  the  C-umtn  or  valley  tiirough  which  it  runs,  probably  had  its  original  name  from  it ; 
the  brook  itfelf  being  call'd  Stur  or  Siour,  a  name  given  to  ieveral  other  rivers,  from  Es  dur  faith  Mr. 
Baxtcr,{T)  which  anfwers  to  the  Corni(h  Es  dour,  the  icatcr  -.  The  valley  being  thus  denominated 
Sxour-Combe,  aHd  the  origin  of  that  compound  being  afterwards  forgotten,  it  was  ufed  to  diftinguifli 
the  brook  running  throHgh  it.  Inllanccs  of  the  like  might  be  given  in  other  rivers  and  places.  See 
Dvwrkh. — Tamar  and  7ame  already  accounted  for  5  fuppofing  the  former  to  be  a  compound  of  Tarn 
(which  Baxter  {'i)  tells  us  fignified  in  the  old  Celtic  the  fame  as  av),  and  Mar,  Mer  or  Mor,  wliicli, 
tho'  when  taken  fmgly  they  generally  mean  the  jea,  yet,  in  the  compound  names  cf  rivers,  fignify 
only  water  :  But  if,  with  Dr.  Borlaje  (4)  and  Mr.  Lcivis,  we  fuppofe  it  to  be  rather  Tammaiur,  the 
great  r'l-jer,  as  being  the  laigcft  that  pafTes  thro'  any  part  of  C-.mivall,  to  which  it  is  for  the  moft 
part  a  boundary),  it  then  belongs  to  our  2d  clafs. —  Tat/y  ;  it  lias  been  before  obferv'd  that  Tauyy 
le'i.n],  &c.  fignify  ivater  or  a  ri-vcr. — Taiv  ;  from  Tai',  of  the  fame  fignincaticn  with  Tauy,  tec.  ut 

Jupra. lelgn  (or  as  commonly  pronounc'd  Tirg)  ;  may  be  the  fame  as  Tab;  an  old  Br':t:p  word  for 

a  ri-ver ;  or  rather  perhaps  derived  from  Teg,  fair  clear,  pretty.  Sec.  and  Afon,  a  river,  contrafled 
into  Aun ;  fo  Teg  aun  (fince  ihorten'd  into  'Tigan  or  'TelgnJ  denotes  a  fair  or  clear  river,  and  fo 
claims  place  in  our  ad  clafs.  Either  of  thefe  feems  preferable  to  Baxter's  Ifc  tene,  or  Tetiifcay 
i.e.  Teruh  aqua  5  (5)  for  the  Telgn  is  far  from  being  a  fmall  fender  rtream. — Terny  or  Tinny  ;  per- 
haps from  Tain,  a  rl-ucr,  or  rather  from  Tenau,  fendn;  with  the  addition  of  j,  ivater  ;  it  being  but 
a  fmall  and  inconfiderable  brook,  at  leaft  'till  it  unites  with  the  Thmpel :  But  if  this  laft  be  right, 
this  alfo  fhould  be  rank'd  in  the  2d  clafs. — Tt''or.c  (more  commonly  call'd  Wondford  Brook) ;  from 
Afoii  or  A'von^  Cornifli  Aivan  or  Auan,  a  river ;  contrafled  into  Pf^an,  or  fVone. — Tco,  Ycau,  or 
Tea-zo,  (the  name  of  feveral  rivers  or  brooks  in  this  county  and  elfewhere,  and  frequently  of  farms 
which  a'ljcin  them,)  fignifies  luater;  agreeable  to  the  Frei;cii  Eau  wliich  the  Normans  (if  they  intro- 
duced it  here  at  the  conqutft  inflead  of  Sax-i:  Ea)  feem  to  have  pronounced  E-au  or  Veau  ;  to  which 
the  old  Britifn  av,  ly,  eu,  (and  we  may  add  the  Cornifli  A've,  and  atty,)  fcem  to  anfwerj  all  which 
as  well  as  the  Gothic  Ara,  the  Ifar.die  and  inodern  Stvcdf?  Aa,  (6)  and  the  Saxon  Ea  above  men- 
tioned, fignify  ivater  or  a  ri-ver.  We  alfo  learn  that  Mi .  0  Halieran's  Antiquities  of  Ireland  that  Aha 
in  Iri;h  is  a  ford;  and  indeed  it  is  chiefly  to  fuch  fmall  brooks  as  are  for  dalle  that  the  name  Yeo 
(in  De-vor.ftihi  at  leaft)  is  generally  given. 

11.  We  come  now  to  the  De-vorjhlre  rivers  of  the  fecond  clafs,  i-ix,  fuch  whofe  BrijiJJ^  ram.es  ex- 
prefs  feme  quality  of  their  waters,  01  circumftances  relative  to  them^  and  among  thefe  (befides  the 
Arret,  Lud,  Lyd,  Otter,  Tamcir,  Teign,  and  Ten.iy,  above  taken  notice  of  as  of  the  fortner  clafs,  but 
fome  of  them,  as  there  hinted,  perhaps  more  properly  belonging  to  this;)  the  following  may  here 
claim  our  examination. — Becra  or  Bcera-hrook  ;  perhaps  from  the  Cornifli  and  Armoric  Bera,  to  glide 
OT  fioiv  ;  unlefs  it  may  be  rather  derived  from  the  Saxon  Beora  a  gro"je  or  plantation  of  trees,  and  fo 
mean  a  brook  pafiing  by  or  through  fome  remarkable  wood  or  grove;  which  fuppofition,  if  juftified 
by  its  fituation,  would  intitle  it  to  a  place  in  our  3d  or  5th  clafs. — Cary  ;  poflibly  from  Garr,  the 
ham^  the  bending  or  bowing  of  the  knee,  and  uy  or  y  water;  fo  Garr-y,  in  pronunciation  foften'd 
into  Cary,  might  mean  the  kr.ee-hent  ivater  or  bcnd.ng  ftream ;  and  fuch  a  bend.ng  this  river  really 
has,  after  its  arrival  at  Afriuatcr  in  its  courfe  from  Beaivorthy ;  near  which  laft,  the  old  maps,  as  v^ell 
as  our  author,  place  the  head  of  its  ftream  :  But  if  its  derivation  from  Carcg  (in  Cornifh  Karr^g) 
fignifying  a  brook  or  rl-osr,  be  thought  preferable,  it  ftiould  have  place  among  thofe  of  the  former 

^lafs. Cater-brook  or  Katerbrook,  more  commonly  called  Cate-brcok,  and  by  fo-ne  Katherlne  brook  ; 

perhaps  its  true  derivation  may  be  from  the  Br.  Caeib,  narrow ;  and  fo  Caeth  or  Catc-hrook  may  mean 
the  narrow  hxodSn.  —  Creedy  ;  or  perhaps  ant'ently  Cridian,  fince  the  Saxons  call'd  Crediton,  which  had 
its  name  from  it,  Cridlantune ;  Q^if  derived  from  Grydian  or  Crydian,  murmuring  ?  So  Crydlan-y  mighj 
denote  the  murmurlng-Jiream,  and  be  afterwards  contra<£ted  to  Crydny  and  Creedy.  Or  it  might  come 
from  Cryd-y,  the  trembling  or  dimpling  water  ;  or  from  Crivydr,  wandering ;  but  the  former  feems  moft 

probable. 

(1)  See  hi»  Gloffary,  p.  187.        (2)  ibid.  p.  1  10.        (3)   ibid.  p.  28  &  132.       [i)  Cor.  voc.  in  Anliq.  of  Coinw.  p.  45*, 
(a;  B4*t.  Clof.  p.  «20.  (f>)  Vid.  Ditt.  UUiidicum  Hickdti. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  183 

probable.  — C/jw  ;  pofTibly  from  tne  Br.  Clau-,  faft  or  jio'tft ;  or  the  Saxon  dough  a  Cleft. — Clyft  ;(i) 
we  find  mif-fpelt  Cl'iffi:  by  Speed  and  otiieis,  and  in  moft  of  our  old  maps.  But  its  true  fpelling  is 
certainly  Cl'ift  or  Cljfl-,  agreeably  to  its  conftant  pronunciation.  I  take  it  to  be  derived  from  the 
hifh  or  GuyJhfllan  Britifh  Leafg,  Jlothfu/,  Jlugg'ip  ;  which  was  alfo  the  ancient  fignification  of  the 
Wel(h  Llej'g^  now  ufed  to  fignity  fable,  tiegligenr,  &c.  and  with  cil  prefix'd,  denotes  a  feeble  flighty 
ajljiv  retreat,  &c.  Hence  tlie  dull  fluggifh  current  of  this  river  Clyji  might  well  take  its  name  5  its 
flux  being  very  flow,  and  almoft  flagnating  in  fome  places.-  ■  Cherry-Brouk  in  Dartmoor;  (from  the 
Br.  Siriauy  a  cherry  ;)  doubtlefs  fo  call'd  from  the  cherry -colour  with  which  the  reddii-h  gravel  and  foil 
of  its  bed  (vifible  enough  in  a  funfliining  day)  feems  to  tinge  its  tranfparent  ftream. — Cole  or  Cc/y; 
Q^if  not  derived  from  Chivy  I  a  rolling  or  revolving?    Culm;  probably  fo  called  from  the  Cornifli 

Cylm,  Jz'jift,  rapid;  which  is  agreeable  to  the  general  rapidity  of  its  current Derle;  f>erhaps  from 

Dwr,  water,  and  ial,  pleafant ;  the  pleajant  or  agreeable  water  ;  Or  if,  inftead  o-f  ,W,  the  Cornifli 
hel,  a  river,  be  thought  more  eligible,  it  becomes  Divr-hel,  the  ri-ver  of  ivater,  and  belongs  to  tlie 
former  clafs. — Glaze  in  the  Britirti  and  Armoric  Glas  iignifies  blue,  pale,  green  and  gray;  and  this 
river  was  probably  fo  denominated  from  the  colour  reflefted  from  its  waters ;  whether  from  the 
azure  tinge  of  its  fmooth  ftreim  in  a  calm  clear  day,  or  the  obfcurer  gray  of  its  ruffled  waves  in 
windy  and  cloudy  weather. — Goutsford;  perhaps  from  the  Br.  Ch-ivydd,  fwelJing,  and  Fford,  a  way 
or  palfagc  ;  and  fo  may  mean  ^ford  or  pafhble  brook,  but  liable  to  fwell  and  overflow,  as  mofl  fmall 
ones  quickly  do  after  great  raii:s. — Grindle  ;  poflibly  a  compound  of  the  Br.  Crgivii,  a  foppage  or 
o!>j1runion,  and  Dal  which  alfo  fignifies  to  hinder  or  jiop  :  Hence  perhaps  the  Saxon  Grindle,  which 
likewife  fignifies  an  obftruBi:-n  or  hindrance;  and  the  brook  feems  to  have  had  this  name  from  its 
being  frequently  rendered  unpayable,  by  its  own  inundations  as  well  as  thofe  of  the  river  Clyft  into 
which  it  difcharges  iifelf,  which  often  obflru<3;  travellers  in  the  road  from  Bipop^  Clyft  to  Clyft  St. 
George,  &c.  even  fince  the  erection  of  the  bridge  called  Grindle  bridge  ;  and  to  prevent  accidents, 
they  are  now  warned  of  their  danger  in  time  of  floods,  by  graduated  ports  fixt  at  proper  places  to 
fhew  the  depth,  putfuant  to  the  late  Highway  Ads.  This  feems  to  juftify  our  fuppofed  etymology 
of  the  name  of  this  brook  ;  otherwife  we  might  rather  derive  it  from  the  Irifli  Ghrinnioll,  'the  chan- 
nel oi  a  river. — Ken;  probably  from  the  Br.  Cain,  which  not  only  fignifies  luhite,  fair,  or  beautiful^ 
but  alfo,  according  to  L//jaj'</,  (2)  Limpidus,  clarus,  illimis ;  and  fo  this  river  might  take  its  name 
from  its  clear  I'mpid  ftream ;  at  leafl  this  feems  mor-e  likely  than  any  derivation  from  the  Britilh 
Cefn,  or  the  Iri(h  Ceann  or  Kear.n,  fignifying  the  head  or  upper  part  of  a  thing ;  which  Mr.  Baxter 
(i  think  v/rongly)  applies  to  Ker.ton,  whofe  Roman  name  he  takes  to  be  Vercenia,  deducing  it  from 
uar  kend  in,  i.  e.  fuper  capite  undue  ;  and  then  fuppofes  this  river  to  take  its  name  from  it,  whereas 
the  river  doubtlefs  gave  name  to  it,  as  well  as  to  the  parifh  of  Ken,  which  being  neareft  its  head 
might  be  more  truly  faid  to  be  juper  capite  unda;  than  Kenton  ;  tho'  this  be  indeed,  as  he  explains 
it,  pr  pe  amnem. — Lemmon  ;  Q^if  from  Llyinn  or  Llyfn  (Br.)  a  lake  or  meer,  a  ftagnant  water,  and 
afon,  oKvan  or  atvn,  a  river,  and  fo  denoting  the  fluggfh  or  flagnant  river  ?  Or  perhaps  rather 
from  Llam  (or  its  plural  Llanmau)  afon,  a  ftone  or  ftones  in  a  river  to  flep  over;  for  fuch  this  flial- 
low  and  fordable  brcok  has,  in  one  or  more  places  (if  I  arr.  rightly  inform'd)  and  this  not  far 
above  its  bridge  ;  particularly  where  it  is  crofs'd  by  a  foot-path  between  that  part  of  Newttn 
caird  Nenuton -Abbot  and  the  other  part  call'd  Neiuton-Buft^el,  the  former  being  in  the  parifti  of 
fVolborough  and  the  latter  in  Highiceek,  to  which  two  pariflies  tliis  flream  is  for  the  moft  part  a 
common  boundary. — Loman  or  Lumman.  This  name  of  the  river  which  difcharges  itfelf  into  the  Exe 
at  Tiverton,  is,  according  to  our  author,  comparatively  modern  ;  for  he  tells  us  its  ancient  name  was 
Suning :  But  whether  Suning  or  Lum-.nan  v/ere  its  moft  ancient  name,  they  having  much  the  fame 
fignification,  it  might  be  known  at  different  times,  or  by  different  people,  by  both  or  either  of  thofe 
names  ;  Lumman  being  probably  derived  from  Llymn  and  avcn  or  azun,  meaning  a  ftoiv  or  ftuggip» 
river;  and  Suning  perhaps  a  compound  of -S^n,  dull,  uy,  water,  and  ing  or  yng,  narro'.v  :  So  Synn- 
py-ing  might  mean  the  narrow,  dull,  or  flow  water;  which  is  agreeable  to  the  tardity  of  its  cur- 
rent, it  being  (if  I  am  rightly  inform.'d)  no-where  rapid,  but  its  flux  in  general  remarkably  flow.— 
Maries ;  perhaps  as  Marias,  a  river  in  Caermarthenftsirc,  from  PAar,  water,  (3)  and  AUiuyz  or  arlloes, 
poured  out,  cleanfed  or  purified  :  Or  as  Mcrlas,  which  according  to  Lluyd  (4)  fignifies  A(^ua  cceruleit^ 
the  ficy-coloured  water — Ma  ford-brook,  which  feparates  Alphington  from  Ex:ter  ;  Mat,  as  well  as 
Med  or  Mad,  according  to  Mr.  Whitaker  (5)  (tho'  he  ment.ons  not  in  what  dialeft  of  the  Britlfli) 
fignifies  fair ;  and  if  fo,  this  with  the  addition  of  Ffcrdd  (denoting  the  way  or  paflage  through  it, 
where  now  a  ftone  bridge  is  alfo  made)  may  fignify  ihs  fair  ford.  Mad  alfo  in  the  old  Britifh  fig- 
nlfied  good,  beneficial,  See.  and  Baxter  fays,  (6)  Mat  in  the  Armoric  fignifies  Bona  atque  Diviticpy 
goods,  and  riches. — Meavy  or  Mevy  ;  poflTibly  from  Mioy,  enlarged  or  augmented,  and  uy,  water. 
This  brook,  after  it  leaves  Dartmoor,  is  increafed  by  another  rill  from  thence,  which  comes  down 
from  that  part  of  the  foreft  v/here  Siward'i  crofs  flood ;   with  which  being  united,  it  is  call'd 

Meavy 

^1)  Tlie  Clyft  fignifies  properly  in  the  Eiitini  language,  the  ear:  And  the  curve  which  this  river  forms  in  its  courfe, 
much  refembles  the  humiin  ear.  The  Britith  word  I.eafg,  dull,  flothful,  has  little  refemblance  to  Clyft  in  found;  though 
ifc  meaning  anfwcrs  to  the  lluggifti  current  of  the  river. 

(2)   Llnyd  in  Baxt.  p.  2;.j,        fa)  ibid,  p,  a66.        (4)  ibid.  p.  274.  (5)   Manchefter,  p,  219.     Baxti  Gl.  p.  (62. 

{<^f  Baxt.  Ql.  p.  171. 


1 84 


HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 


Mtavi  "WJtir,  at  leaft  'till  It  alfo  joins  that  ftream  which  comes  down  from  Eyli/hurro-zu,  and  \vhidi 
has  its  confluence  therrwith  not  far  from  Mc^y  Chunh,  if  it  be  not  alfo  fo  call'd  lower  down,  before 
it  takes  the  nam-;  of  Piym ;  of  which  laft  Mr.  Donn%  map  makes  it  a  principal  branch,  tho'  omitting 
its  name,  and  taking  no  notice  of  the  rill  from  Shvard's  crofs  abovementioned. — Moulc  or  Mole:  As 
this  river  h.«  no  fubterraneous  palTage.  like  the  river  MoU  in  Surry,  to  juftify  its  taking  its  name  from 
the  animal  fo  calld,  Q^-vn.uher  it  might  not  be  fome  old  Briti/h  or  Cci-'ic  word  deri\ed  from 
MfA/.i?-,  i.e.  curvui,  tortucfui ;  and  fo  have  its  name  from  the  crookednefs  or  turnings  and  wind- 
ings of  its  channel  ?  Or  if  the  Britilh  Mivl,  or  Saxon  Mul,  a  Mule,  he  rather  preftrr'd,  (fmce  rapid 
rivers,  fuch  as  this  is,  fometimes  have  their  names  from  fwift-footed  animals,)  it  t'len  more  properly 
belongs  to  our  4th  cU^.—Naddsr-ffatcr;  probably  fo  call'd  fiom  its  abounding  with  'water-jnaUs  ; 
for  Neidr  m  Wclp,  and  Naddyr  or  Nadar  in  Cornip,  fig'ify  an  adder  or  fi.ake,  and  Neidr  y  dwr  a 

vjater-fnake. Ock,  may  poflibly  be  from  Ofc  (water)  as  has  been  already  obferv'd,  the  s  being  loft 

in  a  rapid  pronunciation,  which  -vould  rank  it  in  the  ift  clafs  ;  but  more  probably  from  Awch,  fig- 
nifyin?  -vigour,  L-v-elirefs,  fehemincy  ;  which  is  very  applicable  to  that  river  Ock  which  gives  name  to 
Okctar-ptcn  ;  but  whether  it  be  equally  fo  to  a  river  of  the  fame  name  ntdr  Ai'ir.gj^^n  in  Bcrhpue-,  I  know 
not.  But  here  aretv.-o  ftparate  (Ireams,  the  Ocki  or  Ockmevt  (the  plural  of  Ock).  Is  it  not  remark- 
able that  Oczako^c,  remote  as  it  is,  correfponds  with  Ockha^r.pton  in  its  fruation  on  tiis  Ocki  f-— 
Ot-brook;  Q^if  from  the  IrilTi  j4e  or  hat,  agreeing  with  the  Britilh  buedc,  a  f:i-e!iing  (and  this  per- 
haps derived  from  oiciuj  tumeo)  r  If  fo,  it  means  the  fu-elli'j  brook  ;  and  this  may  poflibly  be 
preferable  to  its  derivation  from  od,  excellent.— P/^w  ;  Baxter  (i)  derives  it  ffom  Piiim,  vliich  in 
the  Erfe  or  old  Scotokrigar.tine  h'tjh,  he  fays,  ftill  fi^nifies  n.-ol-vere  to  rojl ;  and  thinks  the  T-!,ui  of 
the  anonymous  Rav.nr.ai  (hould  be  writ  Fihr-s,  or  Pi/in  ifc,  i.  e.  cotii-cl-vens  aqua,  the  roJline:  water, 
denoting  the  impetuofity  of  its  current.  But  Q_J— Rakcrn  brook  rifcs  in  the  foreft  of  Dartmoor^ 
and  falls  into  the  Ta-vj,  not  far  above  Mary  l'an:y  :  Another  fuch  brook  runs  by,  and  gives  name 
to,  the  parifh  of  Eackcnfzrd  in  this  county,  anciently  fptlt  Rakcmcford,  ^nd  in  Domefday  Book  Ra- 
cbenefo'de  :  Being  bothbut  fmall  ones,  the  name  may  pofTibly  be  derived  from  Rhcgain,  to  murmur^ 
mutter,  or  ivh':(f:r,  and  fo  mean  the  mumur'wg  brook. — Rcdford  or  Reddaford ;  perhaps  from  the 
Britifh  and  Armoric  Rbudd  (whence  the  Englifh-Saxon  red),  red  or  ruddy;  this  bra,k  beirg  re- 
markable for  the  reddish  colour  with  which  its  waters  are  tinged  b>-  the  ftones  and  gravel  in  its  bed 
(as  before  obferv'd  in  Cheny-bro-A),  and  Ffordd,  the  ford  or  palfsge  throirgh  it.  Note  alfo,  Re-yd^ 
both  in  Wehh  and  Cornifh,  fignifies  a  ford. — Redlake  ;  po.Tibly  the  firfl  fyllable  of  this  may  have 
the  fame  meaning  as  in  the  hfV,  and  fo  v.ant  no  further  explanation;  for  lake,  in  Dc^-onpire  lan- 
guage (as  has  been  already  hinted)  commonly  means  a  fmall  brook  or  r.vukt.  Or  if  its  colour  /houW 
not  juflify  its  borrowing  this  name  from  thence,  it  may  be  from  the  Br.  Rtedeg,  to  run  ot  foiv ; 
(thus  Da'r  rbedez'Z.  'S  runrtir.g  toater :)  Or  elfe  from  Rh.iad,  rearing,  if  this  torrent  be  really  remark- 
able for  its  noifeand  rapidity;  but  query  as  to  this  ? — 'TaJc;  Q^if  from  Tav-ial,  the  pleafanc  ftream. 
^Tkrupcl ;  Q^if  from  D  :vr,  water,  and  Ojgh  a  branch  ?  Or  rather  Dior-h-tylc,  the  water  btbvv 
the  fteeo  afcent  of  a  hill  ? — IValdcn;  perhaps  from  G-u;anv',  light,  clear;  arxl  either  Divfn  (or  Doui, 
Armoric)  d^eb;  or  elfe  Da-von,  or  as  Ihorten'd  Daur.,  which,  a-i  Baxtsi  (2)  informs  us,  figinfied  in 
the  old  Britifh,  Amr.h,  a  r'l-ver  or  ircck,  and  if  fo,  Gicatvl-daun  or  JVa/dcn  means  the  clear  river  or 
limpid  ft'-e'am. — We-ver ;  in  Britip  probably  Uy-aher,  compounded  of  Uy,  water,  and  aher  which 
properly  fignifies  the  fall  of  a  lelfer  water  into  a  greater,  a%  that  of  the  We-ver  into  the  Crlm  ;  but  as 
we  learn  from  Mr.  Riel>ards,{-^)  Alcr  is  in  Nonh-Wala  ufed  for  any  bro:k  or  fiream  whatever,  and 
if  fo,  this  river  belongs  rather  to  cur  jft  clafi  :  In  the  old  C^rtip  alfo,  it  Signified  the  meet'ngof  two 
rivers;  but  fometimes  z.  fo'd,  and  alfo  the  mouth  cf  a  river.  See  Dr.  Borinje'i  Cornp}  Vocabulary. 
Wotes-brvA  ;  poflibly  from  the  -Coniifh  llvcdhyy^,  fwoln  ;  or  rather  Huedb,  a  fwelling,  with  the  ad- 
dition of  :•'<■  v/ater;  the  fwellirg  water.  (Stt  Gt-hrook.) — But  as  this  rivulet  rifes  \n  Dar-mctr,  (at 
the  boundary  of  which  foreft  it  falls  into  the  Teigr:)  and  might  be  fuppofcd  to  be  forir/d  by  melted 
fnow  from  the  hills  there,  Q^  if  its  derivation  from  cd  which  fignifies  failing  jr.'.tv,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  ijc,  water,  may  not  be  preferable  to  the  former  ?  ~Tall,  or  Yaall  brook  ;  perhaps  fro.m  W, 
pleafant,  and  fo  means  thz  pi eafant  brook;  but  if  it  be  irom  the  Co'nifli  Ha:l,  He'il,  Hel,  or  Heyle,  a 
river  or  brook,  it  more  properly  belon.t^s  to  our  ift  clafs. — Ta'm  or  Tcaln  ;  Q^if  from  y'eau  or  Eu, 
water,  and  Llirr.p,  fmooth  ?  the  jir.--cth  water. — Tamer ;  perhaps  from  Jai,  pleafant,  and  Mor  or  Mer 
water  ;  if  fo,  it  fhould  rather  be  fpelt  Talrr.er,  but  the  /  melts  away  in  pronunciation. — Tarty  ;  Q^if 
from  the  old  Britifh  lar  or  lear,  a  river,  and  teg,  fair,  clear,  pretty  ?  So  lar  teg,  Ihorten'd  into  Tarty, 
denotes  the  fair  and  clear  river. 

III.  Having  thus  particularized  tiiofe  DevovpAre  rivers  whofe  names  belong  to  our  ift  and  id 
clafTes  refpe£lively,  we  come  now  to  thofe  of  the  third,  -viz.  thofe  which  are  either  wholly  of  Saxon 
oriein,  or  partly  Britip  and  partly  Sax.n ;  with  which  v/e  may  alfo  rank  fuch  as  have  Roman  names 
with  Saxon  terminations,  or  the  contrary  :  Of  tliis  clafs  (befides  thcfe  already  reforr'd  to  it),  this 
County  affords  us  the  following. — Batlenr,  perhaps  a  compound  of  the  Saxon  Bath,  Balrctnn,  and  the 
Latin  word  for  hit  baths,  Therwa  (a  <=>f^iJi%-  calidusj  ;  and  poflibly,  as  the  Romans  feem  to  have 

had 

(1;  Baxt.  CI.  p.  ijC.  (a;  ibid.  p.  99.  (3)  See  hU  W.  Dift.  in  Aber. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  i8S 

had  a  ftatloii  at  or  near  Bampton,  which  is  fituated  on,  and  takes  its  name  from  this  river,  they 
might  alfo  have  artificial  hot  baths  near  it,  and  fupplied  with  water  from  it. — B.urr.  or  Burn  ;  Sax. 
Burn,  fl^nliylng  a  [orrert,  irook,  or  ri'vcr ;  ahb  a  •zt-vrcj  ^iffA. — Cran-irak  ;  probably  from  the  old 
Briti/h  Cniitr,  X.o  fall  dotun,  roll,  tumble,  and  the  Saxon  Bro:a  a  brook  or  torrent.  This  rivulet  gives 
name  to  a  farm  in  Moretonhampfiead,  near  which  it  rifes,  and  falls  precipitately  into  the  l\:gr:.~^ 
Dalcb  or  Dalk  ;  Sax.  Dale,  recula,  a  fmall  matter  or  thing  ;  fo  Dalc-broca  may  fignify  a  fmall  or  in- 
coniiderable  brook,  as  this  really  is. — Deanbum  ;  Sax,  Dane-hum,  the  torrent  in  the  "valley. — Lcng- 
brook  ;  Sax.  Lavge-broce,  needs  no  explanation. — Lumburn ;  perhaps  from  the  Br.  Llynn  or  Lymtie,  a 
lake  or  pool  in  a  river,  and  the  Sax.  bum,  a  brook,  or  watery  ditch  ;  and  fo  may  mean  a  brook  that 
has  fuch  pools  or  ftagnaht  waters  in  it. — FnUahrook  ;  from  the  Sax.  Pul,  or  Br.  Pwll,  a  pool,  pit> 
or  ditch,  and  Broca  a  brook.  It  receives  a  fmall  rill  called  Reddlfird. — Sbob-brook  j  poffibly  Shoi- 
broek,  and  fo  called  either  from  the  fwiftnefs  of  its  current,  or  from  its  abounding  vvith  a  fort  of 
trouts,  in  fome  parts  of  this  county  called  Jhcts :  which  derivation  feems  preferable  to  eitner  Shoe- 
brcck  or  Short-brook.  This  brook  doubtlefs  gave  name  to  the  parifh  of  Sbobbrcck  thro'  which  it  runs^ 
but  being  afterwards  fuppofed  to  take  its  name  from  it,  is  now  commonly  call'd  Shobbroik  Lake. 
See  its  other  name,  Qi/yr,  explain'd  among  tbofe  of  the  2d  clafs. — Sil-ver  Brook  ;  fo  calld  from  the 
colour  or  refledlion  of  its  water. — Smiill-krook  ;  Sax.  Sn^icl-broca  ;  the  propriety  of  this  name  is  not 
lefs  evident  than  its  meaning,  it  being  indeed  a  very  fmall  brook. — Tedbourr.  Brook  ;  Q^if  from  the 
Br.  Tyivod,  fand,  and  the  Sax.  Burt;,  a  brook  or  river  ?  So  Tyivodburn  Ihorten'd  into  Tedburn  may 
mean  the  Sand-brock  :  Or  it  may  be  compounded  of  Tutb,  a  trotting  or  jogging  pace,  if  agreeable  to 
the  motion  of  its  current,  and  Bum  as  before.  It  runs  into  the  Cul-verley,  and  is  more  likely  to  have 
given  Its  name  to  the  pariih  oi  Tedburn  St.  Mary,  which  is  waterd  by  it,  than  to  have. derived  its 
name  from  it. — Tcrridge,  Tcurldge,  Ta'zvridge,  Or  Turridg: ;  pofTibly  from  theBritifh  Dwr,  water,  and 
the  Britilh  ifc  orlrifh  uijge,  which  alfo  fignify  ivater.  —  Ug-brsok  ;  probably  from  the  Saxon  Wog,  cur- 
'vus ;  fo  Wog-broca  may  mean  the  crocked,  bending,  or  ferpentine  brook.  This  rivulet  runs  by,  and 
gives  name  to,  the  feat  of  Lord  Clifford,  in  the  pariih  of  ChudUigb. — fFalbrook  or  Wallahrcok  and 
JVcllahrook ;  from  the  Sax.  Weal,  "vertex  aquarum,  or  elfe  from  Waslla,  fon% :  Brooks  coming  im- 
mediately fiom  their  fountain,  and  not  yet  joined  with  any  other;  and  fuch  thofe  in  Dartmoor  fo 
called,  really  are,  but  lofe  their  names  at  their  influx  into  the  Dart  and  A-von  refpefllvtly. — Wap- 
hurn  ;  either  the  old  Britifh  Uyjc  or  Irilh  Uijgc,  water ;  or  elfe,  Bais  or  Vais  (the  B  and  V  being 
commutabie  letters),  !\fird  or  tkalhtv  tlace  c  ipable  of  a  foot  pafiage  ;  with  t!ie  addition  of  the  Sax. 
Burn,  a  river. — Wijkfcrd;  the  firll  fyllable  of  this,  may  have  the  fame  derivation  as  the  laft,  with 
the  addition  oi  ford,  a  ford  or  pallable  brook.  The  fame  may  be  applied  to  that  part  oi  Dalk  brook 
which  gives  name  to  the  parifh  of  IVapford  Pyne,  it  being  there  indeed  Uyfc-Ffcrdd,  a  ford  or  paflf"- 
able  water. — Trcmbun- ;  perhaps  from  the  Saxon  and  old  Inglilh  Wealm,  to  "u-alKi  or  break  forth  as 
from  a  fountain;  and  Burn,  a  river  •.  If  fo,  it  fliouid  be  fpelt  Walrr.burn. — Wrixcl;  poffibly  from 
the  Saxon  Wrlxle,  viciflitude,  an  alternate  change  or  mutation ;  perhaps  from  its  fweliing  after  every 
Ihower,  and  in  the  intervals  reduced  to  a  fmall  rivulet :  But  Q^? 

IV.  It  now  remains  to  take  notice  of  thofe  few  rivers  in  this  county  which  belong  to  cnir  4th  and 
5th  clafl^es,  and  have  not  been  already  fpecified.  Of  the  4th,  ■"viz..  fuch  as  are  metaphorically  deno- 
minated from  the  nature  of  their  currents  only,  I  know  of  none  but  have  their  names  either  from 
fome  bird  or  fvvift-footed  animal,  or  elfe  from  fome  milTile  weapon,  to  denote  their  velocity;  of 
which  we  have  the  following  inft.mces. — Chackcrel ;  Q^  if  not  derived  from  the  Br.  Chivai,  fwifr, 
fpeedy,  quick  ;  and  Ciry.'l,  a  fparrow-hawk  ?  -  Cul-z-crly  ;  probably  from  Culfre,  a  dove  or  piJgeon  (for 
■which  the  country-people  in  Deicn  flill  retain  the  Saxon  appellation  Cul'ver),  -vvith  the  addition  of 
hcl  (Cornilh)  a  river,  and  uy,  water:  So  Cul-verly  might  be  originally  Culfre-bel  us,  the  dove-like 
river  of  water;  and  be  fo  call'd  (as  is  the  Dc^ve  in  Staffordjhire)  from  a  comparifon  of  the  fwiftnefs 
of  its  ftream  to  that  of  the  flight  of  a  dcue. — Dart ;  this  in  the  Wtljh  and  Armoric  has  the  fame  fig- 
nification  as  the  Engl:Jb,  a  dart,  and  fometimes  an  arrow  ;  and  this  river  (as  well  as  the  Arro<ui 
w^hich  runs  thro'  part  of  W:,rcejitrjkire  and  ffarii-i.-kjkire)  was  doubtlefs  fo  call'd  from  the  fwiftnefs 
of  its  current.  The  chief  river  (for  there  are  two  or  three  others)  of  this  name  in  De-vorjhire,  rifes 
In  and  gives  nzme  xo  Dart-f/Lor  ;  and,  in  its  courfe,  to  Darti  gton,  and  Dartmouth,  where  it  dif- 
charges  itftlf  into  the  ocean.  Probably  its  Roman  name  was  Dariun: ;  and  the  Durlc  An:r.e,  in  the 
itinerary  of  Ricardus  Corinenfes,  (as  Dr.  i?Wi//'efuppofes,)  Jhould  be  Dario  amne,  and  meant  the  pjf- 
fage  over  the  ZJcr  nar  Apburton. — Harbum;  probably  Hare-bum,  the  Hare-bi  ook  ;  the  fwiftnefs 
of  its  current  being  compared  to  that  of  a  hare. — Uarfcr-d  Brook  ;  Sax.  Hare-ford,  a  rivulet  that  ruii» 
into  Tedburn  brock  :  This  ford  doubtlefs  derives  its  name  from  the  fame  origin  as  the  laft. — Sidde, 
or  Syd;  probably  from  the  Britifh  Saeib,  an  arrotv  ;  and  if  fo,  we  cannnot  doubt  but  it  had  this 
name  for  the  reafon  above  given  for  tliat  ci  Dart.  — Wolf ;  Sax.  Wulf.  This  little  river,  the  velocity 
of  whofe  current  claims  a  name  from  that  fv.ift  footed  animal,- pafles  by  Aivlijeombe  and  Buckerell.^ 
and  falls  into  the  Otter. 

V.  Laftly,  although  it  may  be  taken  for  a  general  rule,  that  where  ri-vets  and  places  take  their 
name  from  each  other,  the  derivations  of  the  latter  from  the  former  are,  for  the  mofl  part,  to  be 
preferr'd  to  thofe  of  the  former  from  the  latter  ;  fince  the  ri'vcn  exified,  and  perhaps  had  diftin(^ive 
■appellations,  before  any  toivn  were  built  on  cr  near  them ;  yet  there  are  fome  inftances  of  rivers 

Vot.  I.  A  a  which 


i86  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE, 

of  the  one  and  the  other.  From  the  Phenicians  are  deduced,  alfo,  the  names  of  our  totvns, 
by  many  who  rejett  the  idea  of  a  Phenician  colony,  (a)  Sammes,  (/>)  and  others,  derive 
Caerijk  (r)  and  other  names  of  Exeter  from  the  Phenician.  Hartavia  or  Hertiandj 
doubtlefs  comes  from  the  Phenician  Hercules.  (</)     In  trade,  the  Phenicians  were  tiie 

firft 

which  having  loft  their  ancient  names  (if  they  ever  had  any),  have  bonow'd  their  modern  ones 
from  the  towns  or  villages  by  which  they  flow' :  Among  thefe,  which  are  here  diftinguiftied  as  a 
Flfib  clafs,  we  have  in  this  county,  the  Hayne,  Hoki'p'i-Brook,  Priaton-Brcok,  and  perhaps  fome 
few  others."     CL^pple. 

{a)  A  colonial  rather  than  a  mercantile  connexion  feems  to  be  implied  in  the  following  paragraph  ; 
*'  Tria  promuntoria,  Hf/cH?j/r;/i«f,  OcrinutN^  et  Kf/a  /xsIm'ttov,  ut  et  nomina  civitatum  (fuch  as 
TtrmoJus  and  ^taviii)  Gf.xca^ji  Phzkiciamqve  oiiglnem  redolentia."     Richard,  p.  zi. 

(A)  "  When  I  confidered,  fays  Samma  In  the  preface  to  his  Britannia,  what  Leland  write^h  of  the 
Britifti  or  Welch  language,  namely,  that  the  main  body  of  it  Cv'>nnfteth  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  words, 
I  began  to  refleft  with  myfelf,  how  it  fhould  come  to  pnfs  thst  the  ancient  Eritains  could  have  any 
commerce  with  the  Tews,  who  were  never  known  to  fend  out  colonies,  and  of  all  people  in  the 
world  were  moft  fond  of  tiieir  own  country  ;  certainly  I  ccncludtd,  this  could  proceed  from  no  other 
root  but  the  commerce  of  the  Phoeniiians  with  this  nation,  who  uf.ng  the  fame  language  with  the 
cliildren  of  Ifrael  in  Canaan,  even  in  thofe  primitives  were  gieat  tracers  and  ikilful  mariners,  and 
fent  cut  their  colonies  through  the  world  ;  and  this  Mr.  Camhdcn  himfelf  touches  on,  where  he  gives 
the  derivation  of  the  BritiftiTCaer  Elke,  now  Exeter.  For  Caer,  to  tell  you  once  for  all  (fays  he) 
with  our  Britains  is  as  much  as  to  fay,  a  city,  whereupon  they  ufed  to  name  Jerufalem,  Cae.-^ 
Salem,  Lutetia  or  Paris,  Caer  Paris,  Rome,  Caer  Ruffaine.  Thus  Carthage  in  die  Punick  tongue 
was  called,  as  Soi-rus  witnefieth,  Carlheia,-  that  is,  the  new  city.  I  have  heard  likewile  that  Caer 
in  the  Syriack  tongue  fignified  a  city.  Now  feeing  Uiat  the  Syrians,  as  all  men  confefs,  peopled  tlic 
whole  vvcrld  wit.'i  their  colonies,  it  may  feem  probable  that  they  left  their  tongue  alfo  to  their  pof- 
terity,  as  the  mother  of  all  future  languages — V/hat  can  be  more  plain  than  this  \  and  yet  this  is- 
but  one  example  of  ten  thoufand ;  but  I  hope  that  in  riie  following  difcourfe  I  have  plainly  made 
out,  that  rot  only  the  name  of  Britain  Itfelf,  but  of  moft  places  therein  of  ancient  denomination  are 
purely  derived  from  the  Phoenician  tongue,  and  that  the  language  it  felfe  for  the  m.oft  part,  as  well 
as  the  cuftomes,  religions,  idols,  offices,  dignities,  of  the  ancient  Britains  are  all  clearly  Phoenician,- 
as  likewife  their  inftruments  of  v.  ar,  as  flings,  and  other  weapons,  their  fithed  chariots,  and  their 
different  names,  and  feveral  diftinfiions.  Out  of  the  fame  tongue  I  have  illuftrated  feveral  monu- 
ments of  antiquity  found  out  and  ftill  remaining  in  Britain,  which  can  no  ether  wnies  be  interpreted,, 
than  in  the  Phoenician  tongue,  where  they  have  a  plain,  eafie,  and  undeniable  fignfication.  And 
as  to  that  concordance  which  was  between  the  ancient  Britains  and  Gauls  in  point  of  language  and 
fome  other  cuftomes,  I  have  ftiewn  that  it  proceeded  not  from  hence,  that  they  were  the  fame 
peop'.e,  but  from  joynt  commerce  v  ith  the  Phoenicians." 

(c)  The  Britons  called  Exeter,  among  other  names,  Kaerpenhuelgoit,  or  "  the  chief  city  in  the 
ivood:  as  appears  by  GeofFry  of  Monmouth.  It  was  alfo  cJkd  Fenncheitccaire  or  the  chief  city  on 
the  tin.  The  Cornifli  very  lately  called  Exeter  by  the  ancient  names  of  Pennecaire,  Cairautb,  and 
Cairijke.     TcniHcahe  fignifies  the  chief  city  ;  Cairerutb  the  red  city,  from  the  red  foil  on  which  it  is 

Ctuated,  and  Cahijke  the  city  cf  IJke,  or  the  river  Exe,  in  Britifti  like. "  This  citty  now  the 

objea  of  your  fight,  and  the  emporium  of  thefe  weHern  partes  is  very  pleafantly  feated  on  a  hill 
(gently  arifing  among  hills  with  an  eafy  afcent.)  and  therefore  called  Penchayr  the  head  cyttie,  Pen- 
haltcayr  tiie  principall  or  chiefe  citie  on  a  hill.  It  declines  towardes  the  fouth  weft  parte  after  fuch 
a  manner  that  be  the  ftreets  never  fo  ffoule,  yet  with  one  fhower  of  raine  tliey  are  prefently  clean- 
fcd  and  made  f,-  eet,  as  is  fung  of  Hierufalem, 

For  one  fayre  fRoud  doth  fend  abroad. 

His  pleafant  ftream.es  apace. 

To  frefti  the  cItty  of  cur  God 

And  wafti  his  holy  place. 
That  it  hath  bin  antJently  called  Coiinia  or  Corinea  is  very  apparent;  but  that  It  had  its  denomi- 
nation from  Corineus  who  vpor  his  arrivall  with  Brutus  into  this  land  v.-as  firft  created  Duke  of  thefe 
t.vo  provinces,  I  cannot  averr;  for  I  haue  it  not  vpon  fuch  warrant  as  I  dare  truft  ;— for  Circeftcr  was 
alfo  of  Ptolomye  called  Corinium  yet  not  from  Corineus."     fVifccte.,  p.  73. 

[d)  "  Not  mucli  diftant  from  Hertye  Poynt,  or  Hercules  Promontory  ;  v.-hich  to  derive  down 
from  Hercules  that  renowned  tyrant-queUer,  would  require  more  time  and  labour  then'l  can  well 

affoard,  yet  for  that  diuers  will  haue  it  foe  :  I  will  deliuer  the  opinion  of  a  much  better  man,  even 
the  di<flator  of  kno.^l£dge  Reverend  Mr.  Cambden,  who  I  hope  will  yield  them  fatisfa<ftion  to  con- 
tentment, if  not  I  confefs  I  cannot.  Ffrom  Cornwall  the  firft  fhoare  in  this  fliire  (faith  hee)  that 
ftretcheth  out  it  felfe  in  length  towards  the  Severn  fea  is  by  Ptolomye  called  the  Promontorie  of 
Hercules,  &  rttavneth  ftill  fome  little  fmack  of  the  name  being  at  this  day  called  Hertye  Poynt :  and 
hath  in  it  two  pr»ttie  tov.nii  Hereon  &  Hertland  i»mQUi  in  elder  time*  for  the  relitiues  of  that  holy 


The     BRIl'ISH     PERIOD.  187 

firft  to  give  names.  Obferving  our  tin  in  its  native  bed,  they  called  it  {a)  fie  an  or  the 
mud.  And  it  is  aiVerted,  that  the  Britifti  manner  of  fighting,  the  names  of  their  war- 
chariots,  and  of  their  weapons  of  w?.r,   were  all  of  Phenician  origin fuch  as  Co-vin 

Effeda,  Rheda.  {b)     This  much  for  the  Britijh-Phenician  of  Danmonium. 

The 

man  St.  Neilan  :  in  honour  of  whome  was  here  erefled  a  little  Monafterye,  by  Githa  wife  of  Earle 
Goodwine,  who  had  this  St.  Neftan  In  efpeciall  reverence  :  for  that  fhee  was  perfuaded,  that  for  his 
nieritts  her  hufband  had  efcaped  the  danger  of  ihipwrack,  in  a  moft  violent  &  dangerous  tempeft : 
•hewbeit  afterwards  the  Dynants  (now  Dynhams)  that  came  out  of  Bryttaine  in  Ffrance  (whofe  del 
mefnes  in  fee  it  was)  were  accounted  the  founders  thereof.  The  name  of  the  Promontorie  hath 
giuen  credit  to  a  very  formal  tale,  that  Hercules  forfooth  came  hither  Into  Brytalne  &  here  vanquifhed 
I  wot  not  what  gyants  :  but  if  it  bee  true  that  Mythologers  (or  expounders  of  moral  tales)  tell  vs  & 
affirme  that  there  was  neuer  any  Hercules;  but  that  by  him  the  power  of  human  wifdome  is  vnder- 
Itood  ;  whereby  wee  overcome  pride,  lurt:,  envye,  theft,  &  other  fucli  like  mongers  :  Or  if  accord- 
ing to  the  divinit  e  of  the  Gentiles,  by  Hercules  they  mean  the  funn,  &  by  thofe  12  labours  endured 
and  performed  by  Hercules,  the  12  figns  in  the  Zodiack,  VvJhich  the  fun  in  his  yearly  courfe  pafTeth 
through  :  what  it  is  they  fay  let  them  look  to  It  themfelues  :  but  for  my  owne  part  I  willingly  believe 
there  was  an  Hercules  ;  nay  I  could  bee  content  to  grant  with  Varro,  that  there  were  of  them  43, 
all  whofe  ads  were  afcrtbed  to  that  Hercules  who  was  the  fon  of  Alkmena  :  yet  can  I  not  perfuade 
myfelfe  that  ever  an  Hercules  came  hither  ;  vnlefs  happily  hee  came  fayling  here  over  the  ocean  In 
■that  cup  that  god  Nereus  gaue  him  whereof  Athenius  maketh  mention.  But  you  will  fay  that 
Ffrancifcus  Phileiphus  in  his  epIfUes  &  Lullius  GIreldus  in  his  Hercules  aver  noe  lefs  :  I  pray  you 
pardon  me,  thefe  late  writers  may  moue  hut  not  remove  mee  ;  confidering  that  Diodorus  Siculus 
who  went  on  with  the  Greekifh  Hiftcrye  in  order,  euen  from  the  moft  remote  &  firft  records  of  all 
antiquitye,  in  playn  terms  affirmeth,  that  neither  Hercules  nor  father  Bacchus  went  ever  into  Bry- 
talne. I  am  therefore  veryly  perfuaded,  that  the  name  of  Hercules  came  to  this  place,  either  through 
tlie  vanity  of  the  Creekes ;  or  from  the  fuperflitious  religion  of  the  Brytaines :  for  as  thefe  being 
moft  warlike  nations  themfelves,  had  valiant  men  in  marvellous  eflimation  &  admiration,  and  highly 
wonderd  at  fucli  as  ccnqutrd  mongers  ;  foe  the  Greekes  againe,  whatfoever  was  any  where  ftately 
&  magnificent,  that  they  referred  to  the  glory  of  Hercules.  And  becaufs  liee  had  been  a  great  tra- 
veller, fuch  as  travelled  were  v/ont  to  offer  facrifices  to  liim,  and  to  him  likewlfe  did  confecrate  the 
places  of  their  arrivalls  :  hereof  came  Hercules  Rock  in  Campania ;  Hercules  Haven  in  Lyguria  ; 
Hercules  Grove  in  Germanic;  hence  likewife  the  Promontories  of  Hercules  in  Mauritania,  Galacia, 
8^  Brytalne.  Well,  what  Hercules  foever  hoe  bee,  wee  aie  efcap't  lus  fingers  and  clubb,  and  are 
cleer  of  him."     Weftcctc^  p.  j6o,  161. 

{a)  Whence  the  Cornu-britifh  Jlean^  of  the  fame  meaning.     Vr-^ce. 

{h)  But  thele  are  Chahia'u-  words :  and  they  were  ufed  In  Danmonium  before  the  exigence  of  our 
Phenician  colony.  The  Phenk'uw^  indeed,  was  derived  from  the  Ckaldce,  In  common  with  the 
niongtral  Britip,  the  Irijh.,  and  the  Erfe.  The  affinity  of  the  Phetncian  with  the  InJI?  Is  proved, 
beyond  all  controverfy,  by  Vallancey,  who  hath  given  us  a  fpecimen  of  the  Punic,(i)  curioufly  coi- 
lattd  with  the  Irifh.     A  part  of  this  colledion  is  as  follows  j 

Punk. 

"  Nytli  al  o  nim  ua  lonath  ficorathlfll  me  com  fyth, 

Irifi. 

N'faith  all  0  nimh  uath  lonnalthc  !  focruidiife  me  com  fith. 

G  mighty  Deity  of  thii  country,  powerful,  terrible  !   quiet  me  with  reft. 

Pui:ic. 

Ghim  lach  chunytli  mum  ys  tyal  mydhl  barii  im  fclil. 

Irlfh. 

Chlmi  lach  chuinigh  !  mulnl  Is  toil,  miocht  bciridh  lar  mo  fcith. 

A  fuppori  of  weak  captives ;  be  thy  will  to  inftrudl  me  to  obtain  my  children. 

Pumc. 

Lipho  can  ethyth  by  mithll  ad  sedan  binuthii. 

Irljh. 

Llomhriia  can  ati  bi  mitche  nd  eadan  beannaltlie. 

Let  it  come  to  pafs  that  my  earneft  prayers  bei)]effed  before  thee. 

Pu;:k. 

Eyr  nar  ob  fyllo  homal  o  nim  !  ubyinis  ifyrthoho. 

Irijh. 

Eior  nar  ob  filadh  umhal ;  o  nlmh  I  ibhim  a  frotha. 

A  fountain  denied  not  to  drop  to  the  humble  ;  O  Deity,  that  I  may  drink  of  its  ftrejuns." 
In  th's  manner  fevejal  other  Punic  lines  are  collated  with  the  Irilh  ;  and  bear  the  fame  reftmblancc 
to  It. 

I'l)   From  the  Pffinului  «f  Pia'ilusf' 

Vot.  I.  A:i   2 


iS8  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

The  tUrd  fla^e  of  the  Danmonian  language,  may  be  iaid  to  commence  with  the  Greek 
colony.  As  the  Greeks  extremely  plumed  thcmlelves  on  their  language,  and  were  ftu- 
dious  to  diireminate  the  knowledge  of  it,  there  are  many  who  think,  that,  even  as  a  mer- 
cantile people,  they  left  the  more  cultivated  Danmonians  in  poffeffion  at  leaft  of  the  rudi- 
ments of  their  tongue.  That  a  grent  number  of  Greek  words  were  incorporated  with 
the  language  of  Danoionimn,  may  be  clearly  flievvn.(rt)  The  names  of  (/?)  Britain  itfelf  j 
of  the  (<-)  CnfJiUrides  ;  of  feveral  (d)  promontories  and  {e)  rivers  in  Danmonium  ;  as  well 
as  towns  and  yjllages,  are  attributed  to  the  Greeks.     But  the  numerous  (f)  Greek  words 

in 

{a)  "  Mr.  Bo'ii'iU  aflerts,  thit  the  Bnufo  language  bear-;  a  greater  refemhlance  to  the  Greek,  than 
any  other  whatfoever ;  ar.d  tliat  there  are  more  G/a4  words  incorpo;ated  with  it  than  there  are  Laf/n ; 
from  which,  and  other  circuniftances,  he  thinks  it  evident  that  a  colony  of  Greets  were  once  here, 
and  lived  fome  time  air.ongil  us.  Camden  Teems  alio  to  favour  the  opinion  that  the  Greeks  landed  in 
and  had  feme  knowledge  of  this  ifland  ;  being  fuppofed  to  have  had  colonies  and  phntations  along 
the  fea  coaft  in  mo.'t  parts  of  Europe,  Britain  not  excepted  ;  or,  according  to  Sir  Thomas  Smyth's 
fuppofition  as  quoted  by  him,  that  a  great  number  of  them  fied  hither  for  fafety,  when  all  Europe 
was  embroil'd  in  war  :  However',  he  feems  elfewliere  paitly  to  retiaft  this,  and  gives  it  as  his  opi- 
nion that  it  was  late  before  the  name  of  the  Br'r.ns  v^-as  heard  of,  either  by  the  Greeks  or  Rcmars. 
But  whether  vve  had  any  Greeks  here  or  iiot,  the  mixture  of  Greek  words  in  the  Britijh  language,  is 
a  faft  which  Camdeti  admits,  and  will  hardly  be  denied."     Chappie, 

{h\  See  derivation  of  the  names  of  Britain.     Borlafe's  Antiqu.  p.  3,  4,  5. 

(t)  The  Greeks  called  the  Scilly  Ifles  Cafliterides.     Sammes,  p.  73. 
■  (^)  There  were  promontories  in  the  1  aurica  Cherfonefus,  and  in  the  Ifland  of  Crete,  which  the 
Greeks  called  Yi^tw  f^eiuTTiz,     In  the  fame  manner  we  have  the  promontory  of  K^i'jv  txtlwjrov, 
which  I  take  to  be  the  Ram-Head  Point.     Heler.is  Promontorvum  was  alfo  a  Greek  promontory. 

{e)  The  Clyli,  for  inftance,  derived,  perh.ips,  from  hicrTo;,  it  being  a  gently-fiowing  ftream — or 
from  jcAr^a.',  not  only  becaufe  it  overflows  the  marflies  every  fpring-tide  to  a  large  extent,  but  alfo 
becaufe  (the  country  lying  much  upon  a  flat)  the  land  floods,  even  in  fummer,  frequently  deluge 
the  meadows  for  many  miles  together.  / 

(f)  "  The  foot-fteps  of  the  Greek  language  are  evidently  feen  not  only  in  particular  Brltijk 
words,  which  agree  in  found  and  fence,  but  in  the  very  nature  and  idiom  of  the  two  languages. 
Some  are  of  opinion,  that  the  Greek  charatf^ers  were  ufed  in  BrhaiK,  and  that  they  were  changed 
by  the  Ro.nan  conquerors,  who  alwaies  were  very  careful  to  obtrude  their  language  upon  them 
whom  they  overcame,  as  a  certain  fign  of  dominion  over  them,  and  a  furer  union  with  fuch  pro- 
vinces ;  and  this  I  .nm  apt  to  credit,  becaufe  defar,  after  the  conqueft  of  the  HcifetVi,  found  their 
public  records  written  in  Greek  charadters.  The  ancient  Greeks  had  but  tv.o  and  twenty  letters, 
no  more  had  the  Brit  aim.,  and  as  afterwards  the  Greeks,  for  conveniency,  did  leceive  tvi'o  more  into 
their  alphabet,  fo  have  the  Brita'ms.  Moreover,  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  the  Br':t\{h  letters  agree 
exaftly  in  found  with  the  Greek,  as  is  mofl  remarkable  in  c  and  g  (not  to  inflance  in  d  and  w)  which 
r  and  g  are  ahvaies  pronounced  by  the  Britairs,  as  v.,  and  7,  and  not  as  now  they  are  before  :  and 
r,  where  c  is  pronounced  like  an  s,  and  ^  like  an  /'  confonant.  Of  i.-o-wels,  the  Britalns  had  anciently 
fix,  now  they  have  added  a  feventh,  inz^.  a  zv,  but  this  relifhes  of  the  iTeutonhk.  Their  conjor.ants^ 
after  the  man'er  oi  the  Greeks,  are  divided  '\nx.o  jemi-jocaies  and  mi'tas,  and  tiiefe  again  into  tenues 
vtcdias  and  afph-eita:,  w^hich,  in  the  flexion  of  nouns  and  verbs,  pafs  one  into  another  exadVly  after 
the  Greek  manner.  R,  in  the  beginning  of  words,  is  ahvaies  with  an  afp'irate,  as  it  is  in  the  Greek 
tong\ie  ;  out  of  which  obfervaticns  in  the  Bnt'ifo  and  Greek  language,  1  would  note  thef?  things. 
Firji,  that  the  Dnnds  of  Britain  and  Gaul,  by  the  number  of  letters  having  only  twenty  two,  as  may 
rationally  be  fuppofed,  after  the  manner  of  the  ancienter  Creeks,  came  into  Britain  very  early,  when 
the  Greeks  had  not  as  yet  learnt  the  ufe  of  their  other  letters,  or  if  they  had,  notwithftanding  they 
were  not  frequently  known  among  them.  Secondly,  the  Druids,  ufmg  the  fame  characters  which 
were  common  in  Greece,  in  the  time  of  Julius  dvfar,  it  appears,  that  neither  were  they  of  fo  ancient 
a  ftanding  in  this  ifland  and  Gaul,  as  the  firfl  and  primitive  times  of  Greece^  when  the  Greeks  learnt 
their  letters  from  the  Phcenician,  and  without  doubt  fomething  nigh  their  charafter.  Befides,  Pliny 
obferves,  out  of  an  ancient  infcription  in  the  Greek  tongue,  that  formerly  the  Graciar.s  had  very  nigh 
the  fame  characters  with  the  Latins ;  and  if  1  be  not  miftaken,  did  write  an  H  inftead  of  the^r  afpiration^ 
after  the  manner  of  the  Phceniciar :  and  if  the  Phce:iicians  did  not  themfelves  bring  the  ufe  ot  letters, 
and  the  number  cf  them  into  Britain,  but  contented  themfelves  with  trading  only  hither,  yet  I  arri 
fure  the  Gro'cians  had  not  only  the  firfl  number  of  their  letters  from  vhem,  but  chara£lers  alfo,  and 
as  may  be  very  rationally  conjeftured,  might  bring  them  into  this  ifland,  after  they  had  new  modelled 
them,  and  before  they  had  added  any  new  ones  to  them.  The  true  attaining  to  the  juft  circum- 
rtances  of  time,  as  to  the  navigations  of  the  PLcenicians  and  Grecians,  makes  much  to  the  fl.iting 
of  the  antiquities  of  Britain.    But  cajs  miifl  be  had,  that  as  we  bring  not  the  Gretks  too  early  into 

tht,fe 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD. 


189 


In  the  Danmonian  language,  very  little  altered  by  their  tranfplantation  into  it,  would  be 
llifficient  to  throw  an  air  of  probability  over  the  fuppolltion  of  a  Greek  fettlement  at 

the 

thefe  iflands,  as  by  the  more  modern  characters  they  ufed,  do  appear,  fo  we  muft  not  aflign  the  time, 
too  late,  of  their  difcovering  them,  which  their  long  fettled  cuftomes  in  Britain,  the  great  efteem 
they  had  gained  with  the  iflanders,  the  very  idiom  of  the  Greek  language  Introduced,  and  their  reli- 
gious ceremonies  and  rites,  though  never  fo  cruel,  allowed  and  approved  by  the  whole  ftate,  argues 
them  of  a  very  ancient  ftanding  in  thefe  parts,  and  chat  not  fnddenly,  but  by  long  ufe,  and  againft 
much  oppofition,  they  were  at  jaft  admitted  and  entertained.  Seeing  we  have  here  fpoken  of  the 
concordance  of  the  Bntijh  tongue  with  the  Greek  idiom,  it  will  not  be  much  out  of  the  way,  if  we 
take  notice,  that  as  the  number  of  their  letters  agree  exadlly  with  the  PhcerAciar.s,  though  we  will 
not  fuppofe  them  to  have  received  them  immediately  from  the  Pheenicians  but  the  Gracians,  fo  there 
are  a  world  of  words  in  the  Br'nijh  language,  which  agree  exaGly  with  the  Syrian  or  Phcenician 
tongue ;  for,  I  verily  believe,  that  the  extream  number  cf  afpiraticns,  and  guttural  pronunciations, 
were  peculiar  to  no  v/eftern  nation,  but  only  the  Britaim  of  Armcrica,  and  PFa/es,  and  the  /?-//& 
(which  may  well  be  fuppofed  to  be  peopled  out  of  Britain,  or  elfe  to  have  been  traded  unto  by 
the  Phoenicians  themfelves)  is  an  evident  fign  of  the  PLcenicians  once  converfing  in  thefe  iflands ; 
for  it  is  to  be  obferved  that  the  eaflero  languages,  and  that  they  as  well  as  the  Greeks,  contributed 
rruich  .to  the  making  up  of  that  language  which  was  ufed  here  in  Cajan  daies,  and  fince,  the  mix- 
ture of  the  Saxon,  Roman,  and  Norman  tongues,  only  excepted.  But  to  returu  to  the  Greeks,  befides 
the  peculiar  conformi'-y  of  idiom,  which  the  Britains  have  of  their  language  in  general  with  the 
Grrscians,  it  is  to  be  obferved,  that  the  numerals  of  both  nations  are  raoft  the  fame,  where  fome- 
times  our  Britains,  fometimes  they  of  Gaul,  have  the  greateft  refemblance.  As  for  example,  1  will 
fct  down  in  order. 


Briiifi. 

Hn. 

«©fltai    Armorican,  vDoiO, 

^Uiny,  Anr.o.  pCttip. 
CljUCflj,   Armo.  i*fUCC^, 

i^ltlj,  Armo.  €klj, 

i3n  ar  Dcg, 

lagain, 
Cant, 


Greek. 
"Ev, 

Tirioc^t^  ;   JEdi.   nirlatjE?, 

'Etfix, 

E>Vf3C, 

'  Enosnx, 

Eiy.03-1, 
ExxToy, 
Xi^.ixs, 

M'jsix.r, 


Engl'Jb. 
One. 
Two, 
Three. 
Four. 
Five. 
Six. 
Seven. 
Eight. 
Nine- 
Ten. 
Eleaven. 
Twelve. 
Twenty. 
A  Hundred. 

In  the  Latin  Mi/le,  a  Thoufand, 
A  Million. 


Moft  of  thefe  may  be  eafily  fuppofed  to  come  from  the  Creek ;  if  we  confidcr  how  varioufly  tliat 
language  alters  the  letters  of  foreign  words  it  receives.  And  if  anv  think,  that  fome  of  thefe  may- 
better  be  referred  to  the  Rcn-.ans  than  Grecians,  as  Ull,  <S>ato,  Cfl,  Cflllt  and  M.\\>  I  (hall 
anfwer  them  in  Mr.  Sheriiigbam's  words,  That  heftdes  thefe  Jo  like  the  Greek  numerals,  the  Britains 
ha've  no  other  to  exprefs  tbemjel'ves  by.  B-.t  if  theje  tvords  ivere  lately  introduced,  it  heho'ved  that  the  old 
terms  (hould  have  remained  in  their  tvriirgs,  as  the  Old  Saxon  and  Latin  ivords,  though  out  of  ufe,  re- 
main fiill  in  tie  writings  of  the  ancients ;  But  I  fear  by  his  words  lately  introduced,  he  fuppofes  the 
objeftlon  made,  as  if  they  were  brought  in  later  than  Cafar's  daies,  perhaps  by  the  clergy  of  Rcme, 
otherwife  it  is  not  improbable  but  they  had  fome  of  thefe  from  the  Remans,  although  there  be  no 
mention  of  any  ancienter  words  of  the  fame  fignificaticn  in  their  old  poets,  becaufe  they  have  no 
writings  of  fuch  antiquity,  ax\A  numerals  arc  (of  all  other  words)  ufed  according  to  the  acceptation 
cf  the  prefent  time.  But  the  greatefl  argument,  in  my  opinion,  that  tlie  Britains  had  not  any  of 
them  from  the  Remans,  is,  becaufe  that  the  Armorican  Britains  in  Gaul,  who  fled  over  (not  long  after 
the  coming  of  tlie  Romans)  into  this  ifland,  cannot  he  fuppofed  (in  fo  fliort  a  time)  to  change  fo 
confiderable  a  part  of  their  languai^e,  do  notwithflanding  keep  the  fame  numerals  as  our  B.'itains  of 
H'ales  do,  ftttii;g  afide  fome  fmall  variation,  as  <^Oto  for  <^0!m,  which  is  rather  to  be  attributed 
to  a  difference  in  dialedl,  than  that  they  had  them  from  the  Grceh.  But,  befides  the  names  of  num- 
bers, the  Britaini  have  in  their  language  a  whole  lexicon  of  words,  whofe  original  is  undoubtedly 
'  '■  ■  Cfcek  ; 


190 


HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 


x§ia  fjitliiVQn ,  had  we  no  other  teftimony  to  fupport  the  faft.     It  does  not  appear,  tlmt 
half  fo  many  words  in  our  language  are  derived  from  the  Latin  as  from  the  Greek.   Yet 

the 

Greek  :  I  will  put  down  fomc  examples  out  of  Mr.  Sherhigbam,  which  he  colled^cd,  moft  of  which, 
as  he  writeth,  hath  no  f>nonymous  words  to  exprefs  thera. 

Br.tijb.  Creek.  RngUJh. 

S»Q0J$>  "Ayyoj,  A  neighbour,  or  that  which  is  near  at  hand. 

3j;il,'  "AaX@-,  Another. 

JCm,  'A//,(p/,  Round  about,  of  all  fides,  or  of  all  parts. 

2[mtopn,  *Ay.i-^oii  To  defend,  or  afford  aid  or  afliflance. 

An^  is  a  Particle  privative,  as  It  is  among  the  Greeh. 

A  bear. 

A  ftammercr. 

More  ciuel,  hafty,  or  uniuly. 

Strong,  or  valiant. 

To  purge,  or  clear. 

An  ornament,  garniihliig,   cr  decking  of 
any  tliijig. 

Grewel,  or  pottage. 

A  fhell,  or  cabinet. 

Warm. 

A  rafter. 

Praife,  or  commendation. 

To  ftrike. 

To  bite,  or  gnaw. 

A  petition,  or  requeft. 

Manifeft. 

Water. 

An  oak,  or  grove  of  trees. 

Proper,  or  particular  ones  own. 

A  cubit. 


3lrtl), 

Cart^u, 

4lafma^ 

Caul, 
CImac. 

Cnitfjio, 
Cnoi, 


r,  Koy/vt©', 


T-        '  "    T-       '5. 

AhstSf 
"15;  ©^, 


The  Partl«ie  Er  increaftth  his  fignlfication,  as  '  ^f  doth  am-ong  the  Greeh. 


5rair,  <i>:^poy, 

Jrorrior,  fur,  **'f,  ^'  ^i'/:®-, 

<3aran»  rt'pacv®', 

-GepUifvo,  r<7y/>./^«v, 

j-iaiil,  'IP./®-,  "ax/©',  ^oi. 

JjHi^^  Mf7f,  ^ol. 

^OCChJ,  Mo/.^:.-, 

iHljcc^aun,  [P^fx^v, 

.^cdan,  irlTT^y, 

And  thus  ad  Infimtum,  but  let  thefe  few  examples  fuffice  to  fliew  the  agreement  of  the  Brlrfh  lan- 
guage with  the  Greek,  which  could  proceed  frcm  no  other  caufe  tlian  fomc  plantation  cf  Greeh  in 

thi5  inan-J."     Samme:.,  p.  ^3,  84,  ?>;  36,  8-.  ^  .-^    - 

A  fiienc 


Yet. 

To  err. 

Fairs. 

A  cut. 

A  thief. 

A  crane. 

To  tickle. 

Salt. 

The  fun. 

Mead,  or  metheglen. 

A  mouth. 

To  mock. 

We. 

To  fpin,  or  weave. 

A  ferry-man. 

To  fneeze,  or  fnort. 

A  hill. 

Soap, 

Silk. 


The    BRITISH   fBRIOD. 


191 


the  Romans  traverfed  almoft  every  part  of  Danmonium,  and  fettled  here  long  after  the 
Greeks.     If,  then,  the  Greeks  were  trading  voyagers  only,  is  not  this  a  very  fingukr 

circumftance  ? 

A  friend  of  Carew,  «  one  Mafter  Thomas  Williams,"  was  of  opinion,  «  that  the  Cornifh  tongue 
was  derived  from  the  Greeke  :  And,  befides  divers  reafons  which  hee  produced  to  prove  the  fame, 
he  vouched  many  words  of  one  fence  in  both ;  as  for  example  : 


Greeke. 

Comifh. 

Englifh. 

Greeke. 

Cornlfli. 

Englifh. 

Teirto 
Mamma 

Tedna 
Mamm 

Draw 

Mother 

Kyon 

Kentron 

Kye 

Ker.tron 

Dogge 
Spurre 

Epljcopos 

Klyo 

D'ldaJkeiH 

Efcoppe 

Klotvo 

Dathijky 

Bifhop 
Heere 
To  teach. 

Methyo 
Scaphe 
Roncbos 

Methow 
Schaptb 
Rotichie 

Drinke 
Boat 
Snorting,  kc 

This  language  is  flored  with  fufficient  plenty  to  exprefTe  the  conceits  of  a  good  wit,  both  in  profs 
and  rime :  yet  can  they  no  more  giue  a  Cornijh  word  for  tye,  then  the  Greekes  for  ineptus,  the  French 
(oTjiand,  the  Englifh  for  emulus^  or  the  Irifh  for  knaue.  Others  they  haue  not  paft  two  or  three 
natiirall,  but  are  fayne  to  borrow  of  the  Englifh  :  mary,  this  want  is  releeued  witti  a  flood  of  mofl 
bitter  curfes,  and  fpitefull  nick-names.  They  place  the  adjedive  after  the  fubflantiue,  like  the 
Grecians,  &c."  See  Carew's  Survey  of  Cornwall,  p.  55 If  the  reader  curforily  infped  the  follow- 
ing lift,  he  will  fee  many  words  that  fpeak  a  fettled  people — a  colonial.,  not  a  mere  commercial  eflablifll- 
ment. 


Ebron, 

the  Jky., 

Bpovrv, 

tonitru. 

Echrys, 

a  blaftingi 

Kpi(uj 

Jirideo. 

Fflur, 

brightnejs. 

(pAsyw, 

ta  burn. 

Plananth, 

a  planet^ 

•TTXxvyi. 

Skez,  (i) 
Scod, 

tijhadowy 
a  Jhade, 

j '  c-xiex. 

umbra* 

Taian, 

thundei-y 

Tixpaca-iTW. 

% 

* 

*     »     * 

Alfa, 

high  cliff, 

aXv/s", 

Aifton, 

high-cliff.hilU 

aXcos, 

Antron, 

a  promontory y 

aivr^ov* 

Ik, 

a  creekf 

IK'jJ. 

" 

Forth, 

a  pcrtf 

•jropOixos. 

Ryn, 

a  nofe. 

*) 

Rhyn, 

a  promontory, 

>piV 

t  »/f. 

Rynen, 

a  hillock, 

3 

* 

» 

*    «    * 

Tam, 

a  rivert 

trorxiAOS. 

(2) 

Dour, 

'watert 

vdu^. 

Kren, 

a  Spring, 

Kpmn. 

* 

* 

#     »     *     * 

Caul, 

cabbage. 

xavXoy. 

Dryft, 

an  oaky 

Apvsi 

Neonin, 

a  daify. 

vEor. 

* 

* 

f     *     #     # 

Arth, 

a  bear. 

XpKTOS. 

Garan, 

a  crane. 

ysfavoy. 

Kei, 

a  dog. 

xvuv. 

Murrian, 

an  ant. 

y-VplOSf 

Injinitus,  wlience  (/.vpfxtii,  eti  ant 

Ren, 

the  mane  cj  a 

horfe,  (sUf 

to  jlov),  to  jpread. 

* 

* 

*     *     * 

Cara, 

to  loiie. 

7 

Karadow, 

belc-ved. 

^KXCi'S. 

Karenza, 

love. 

s 

Fledgiowr, 

(1)  From  (kez,  a  (hadow,  comes  (kezy,  (hadowy,  or  fleeting  like  (hadows.     Wienc*  the  Devonii»>.  and  Cormih  fay,  that 
-pstijjle  clufing  one  another,  or  pafling  in  quirk  I'ucfeffion,  are  (kefing. 

(a)  Hence  TitDar;  «r  Ttm-inawr,  the  great  river,  tbft  Urgejl  in.Cornwjll. 


,92  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

circumftance  '  Should  we  not  fuppofe  in  this  cafe,  that  the  fen.v  Greek  expreffions,  acn- 
dentaUy  adopted  from  the  converlktion  of  merchants,  would  have  been  foon  loft  amidlt 


Fledgiow,     J     perhaps  from  ^9^«$-'> 


Dzoules, 

2,     ferjon 

Forrior, 

a  thief i 

«     #     »     # 

Crene, 

trembling., 

Crenna, 

to  tremble, 

Dacron, 

tears. 

Flaw,  (i) 

a  cut, 

Ceyleifio, 

te  tickle. 

Klowo, 

to  bear, 

; ;  drink,  hence  Medhdas, 

'  \      drunkennejs, 

Methow, 

Mufac, 

/linking. 

Moufegy, 

loathjomt, 

Poan, 

fain. 

Renki, 

to  fnore. 

Ronkye, 

Jfioring, 

Rhedec, 

fwiftnefs. 

#      *     *     # 

Ate, 

bate. 

Carthu, 

to  clear. 

Dathifky, 

to  teach. 

Deyfif, 

a  petition^ 

Dilils, 

manifefl. 

Eiddio, 

proper. 

Faellu, 

to  err. 

Hezuek, 

taje. 

Hyrch, 

to  command. 

Moccio, 

to  mock. 

Ny, 

IV  e,  us. 

Tin, 

terrible, 

#     *     »     * 

Theu, 

God, 

»     #     »     * 

Choarlon, 

•        ^«''"»                   ^     ^ 

*     #     *     * 

Ancar, 

an  hermitage, 

Bochim,  1 

[a)      the  houfe  of  oxen. 

*     *     #     * 

Airos, 

Jiern  of  a  pip. 

Skaih, 

a  boat. 

«     *     #     ' 

Xlln, 

a  cubit,  an  angle. 

Fer. 

a  fair,  {l) 

a  fave. 


(pwp. 


>Xp>!V'/). 

(py.xu,  frangsi 

Mvaos,  crime,  ivickednefs,  and  Mv^x^titf 
to  fpoil,  to  foul :  Whence  Mvlruro),, 
a  kind  of  mefs  made  of  garlick,  and 
other  Jlinkir.g  ingredients. 


1 


'rroivn, 

foyyos. 

* 

cclv,     • 

xx9xpos. 

Atoasniiv. 

AiiKos. 

tpxKKUf 

upXn. 

VWI. 

Aiivoi, 

» 

Xopos. 

a'ixy^ufi'j} , 
Bay. 

* 

from  xifoi, 
(Ty.x(pyi, 


poena. 


damage,  loj:. 


hence  f^Hadou,  jalfkmir. 


recede 


to  ur.mcor,  to  Jet  to  fea» 
ajkiff. 


'  (ptfu,  to  carry,  whence /^rjr,  a  fairing^ 
and  ipofos,  tribute,  taxes,  a  market. 

Ferna, 


(n  Hence  "  Flaws  of  winds"— a  common  exprcffion  in  Cornwall.  »ii  ,.r<,r»»uilW 

ii\  The  Bochim  of  rcriptu.e  is  well  known:  And  it  is  remarkable  that  there  is  a  Boch.m  .n  Bntany  as  well  «  Cornwall* 
U)  Hwce  the  Furryday  of  HelAon,  comawnly  dedaced  from  f«ri* ;  But  f«i«  comes  froin  tl,c  fame  .oo*. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  ^ipj 

die  Roman  conquefts  and  fettlements  ?  And  (hould  we  not  expe6l  to  meet  with  a  much 
greater  number  of  Latin  than  of  Greek  words  ?  Even  if  the  Greeks  had  been  pofterior 
to  the  Romans,  merely  as  traders  to  Danmonium,  we  fliould  have  looked  for  more  of  the 
Latin  than  of  the  Greek,  iir  our  language  }  whilft  we  confidered  the  provinciating  fpmt 
of  the  Romans,  and  their  eftablifhraent  in  this  ifland  for  centuries.  Admitting  the  reality 
of  a  Grecian  colony  in  Danmonium,  we  are  almoft  furprifed  at  the  predominance  of  tlifi 
Greek  over  the  Roman  :  For  the  Greeks  in  this  idand  were  for  ages,  prior  to  the  Ro- 
mans. But  without  admitting  the  reality  of  a  Grecian  colony,  this  predominance  can 
never  be  accounted  for  :  A  Grecian  colony,  therefore,  rauft  has'e  exifted  in  Danmonium. 
My  argument,  however,  does  not  depend  merely  on  the  7iumber  of  Greek  words  :  The 
little  alteration  they  iiave  undergone,  in  general,  in  confequence  of  their  infertion  into 
our  language,  feems  a  ftriking  faft  in  favor  of  my  theory.  I  need  not  infift  on  this 
point :  From  the  lift  of  Greek  words  given  below,  my  readers  will  judge  for  themfelves. 
Many  of  thefe  words  are  pure  Greek,  retaining  their  original  founds,  without  the  flio-hteft 
variation.  There  is  another  argument  in  favor  of  this  colony,  from  the  qualify  of  the 
Greek  words.  Had  the  Grecians  been  only  trader:  to  this  ifland,  the  words  they  might 
have  fcattered  here,  would  have  been  chiefly  of  a  mercantile  complexion.  But  examine 
the  lifts  below  ;  There  fuch  words  occur,  as  could  not  have  been  cafualty  dropt  into  the 
language  by  a  few  merchants :  They  relate  to  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  They  cany 
conviftion  of  a  familiar  intercourfe  between  the  Greeks  and  Danmonians  :  They,  evi- 
dently, imply  a  fettled  people.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Danmonian  language  refembles 
the  Greek  in  many  particulars.  It  is  a  circumftance  worthy  notice,  that  many  Danmo- 
nian words  which  are  not  obvioufly  dcducible  from  the  Greek,  have  yet  a  Greek  termina- 
tion :  And  many,  though  neither  deducible  from  the  Greek,  nor  having  a  Greek  ter- 
mination, are  but  mere  echoes  to  this  fonorous  tongue — which  feems  to  intimate,  that  the 
Danmonians,  imitating  the  Greeks  ore  rotundo,  were  ambitious  of  forming  their  words 
after  the  Greek  model.  And  this  muft  argue  the  clofeft  intimacy  between  the  Greeks 
ajid  the  Danmonians.  (<z)  It  is  to  be  obi'erved,  alfo,  that  like  the  Greek,  there  are  nu- 
merous {b)  compound  words  In  our  language,  equally  as  exprefllve  as  the  Greek.  And  our 

language, 

Ferna,  merchandixe)  tvares,  goods,     ^spvn,  a  ivife'i  portisn. 

Halan,  Jal(,  a.\fis. 

Kentron,  nalls^  KB»lfov, 

Kafmal,  a>i  ornament,  .                 xqs(a,os. 

Nyddu,  to  fpin,  y7)9'M. 

Plenkos,  pJanis,  -jrXexx;            tojo'm, 

Seban,  /'•'/>»  trriitM)/. 

Syrlg,  fM,  (TnftM)), 

Tedna,  to  dratv,  nivu. 

Tine  S  '"  '""^  '^^  f''h   '•  ^'   '*  ^k^(  ?         n    ,  r-  i        /    » 

'"  '  1       the  f re,  ^TiV^xK^OS,        Cjhdus.  {l) 

Tribeth,  a  brandlrcn,  TpiTTUi. 

[a)  With  refpeft  to  Cornubritini  words  of  Greek  found,  fuch  as  the  following,  are  profufely  fcat- 
tered through  the  Vocabularies  of  Borlafe  and  Pryce  :  Gockorion,  fooUp people;  Guzvlmon,  theatrei  • 
Guirion,  a  man  of -veracity;  Nenpynion,  thebram;  DorofTen,  a  mole-hill;  FeUores,  a  tooman-piper  i 
Palores,  a  chough  ;  Eiriafdan,  a  bonfire  ;   Spjan,  fplendor. 

{b)  Such  as  Bartine,  or  the  hill  of  fres -the  Comifh  for/«  being  tan;  Bofcawen-rofe,  the  houfe 
»«  the  elder,  tree-valley  ;  BoleJt,  the  dahy-cot  ;  Carminow,  the  little  chy,  from  car  and  mlnotxj  or  «/«>'f. 
fmall— hence  mmoivi,  the  fmall  fifli  that  abound  In  our  ftreams ;  Caer-edris,  the  learned  city  ■  Cut- 
tayle  (in  Calftock)  the  ivood  near  the  river;  Crugfellick,  the  barroiv  in  open  -vietv  ;  ColWv^n,  a 
gro-ve  ofhaxel;  Delabol  (in  St.  Teth)  the  houfe  in  the  clayey  foil,  Dinemour  (from  din  and  mor)  a 
fort  at  the  Jea—s^^Gnce  Morldunum  ;  Dinful,  a  funny  hill,  or  a  hill  dedicated  to  the  fun;  Gundron, 
the  down  s-hil/j  Keneggy,  the  moffy  hedge  by  the  ivater  ;  Kuzkarnnahuilan,  the  lapiving':  rock  by  a 
-wood;  Leflcard,  the  cafile  court,  from  its  caflle,  one  of  the  ancient  feat,  of  the  Dukes  of  Cornivall ;  Mif- 
guerdiu,  the  month  of  black  florms,  i.  e.  December  ;  liandadron,  the -valley  of  thie'va  ;  Pendarvis,  head 

(i)  Hence  tinder,     "  Tine  the  flant  JigSamng."    Milton's  Paradife  Loft.    B.x,  1.10,-5, 

Vol.  I.  B  b 


ai92  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    ok    DEVONSHIRE. 

language,  like  the  Greek,  abounds  with  expletives :  Like  the  Greek,  it  has  manj'  redun- 
dancies :  And  in  its  (a)  idioms,  it  is  often  Imiilar  to  the  Greek.  On  viewing  the  inter- 
mixture, therefore,  of  the  Greek  hiiiguage  with  the  Danmonian,  we  are  Ihuck  by  the 
number  of  Greek  words,  by  their  undifguifed  appearance,  and  by  their  quality  ;  whihl,  in 
our  language,  the  terminations  and  founds,  compounds  and  cxpUti-ves,  redundancies  and 
idioms,  which  refemble  the  Greek,  are  no.  lefs  remarkable. 

Whether,  at  this  llage  of  the  Danmonian  language,  the  Greek  charafVers  were  adopted 
or  not,  in  ivriting,  is  a  point  which  I  Ihall  not,  at  prefent,  diicufs.  The  •'  Gra-cis  litteris" 
of  Cselar,  is  a  dubious  paliage.  Gr.icis  is  difniifled  by  many  of  the  commentators  as  an 
intei-polation  :  And,  if  there  were  any  epithet,  I  think  Crajfis  was  the  word. 

Tht  fourth  and  lafl  fage  of  the  Danmonian  language,  muft  be  fixed  at  the  time  of  the 
Belgic  and  other  European  fettlements  on  our  illand.  But  ou  this  topic  I  fhall  not 
enlarge.  (A)  The  difl'erent  tribes  from  the  neighbouring  continent,  brought  with  them, 
undoubtedly,  a  barbarous  tongue,  which  greatly  corrupted  the  languages  of  Danmonium. 

The  language  of  Danmonium,  then,  from  its  firll  exiftence  in  the  ifland  to  the  time 
of  Cffilar,  feems  to  have  undergone  various  modihcations.  Originating  in  the  eaft,  a 
daughter  of  the  Ckai.dee,  it  was  nearly  coeval  in  thefe  iflands  with  the  Irijh  and  the 
Erfe,  of  which  it  was  a  filler  dialcft.  And  we  termed  it  the  Britijh  tongue  ;  as  fpoken  in 
South-Britain.  But  in  South-Britain,  it  was  adulterated  with  various  mixtures.  In  the 
weftern  parts  of  South-Britain,  Devon  and  Cornwall,  we  have  feen  it  corrupted  by  the 
Fhenician,  the  Greek,  and  the  Belgic  and  other  European  tongues.  In  the  mean  time, 
it  had  fpread  fiom  the  weft  over  the  remaining  part  of  South-Britain.  In  the  interior 
parts,  it  was  comparatively  pure  -.  On  the  coafts,  particularly  the  Kentifli,  it  had  loft  its 
primitive  color  and  its  original  flavor.  At  this  crilis,  three  feveral  dialesSts  feera  to  have 
prevailed  in  South -Britain — the  diaieft  of  thofe  aboriginal  Britons,  who,  at  the  invafion 
of  the  Belgie,  had  fled  from  Danmonium  into  the  centre  of  the  iiland  ;  the  dialeft  or  jar- 
gon of  the  Gauls  on  a  gi-eat  part  of  the  coafis  of  South-Britain ;  and  the  dialeft  of  the 
Danmonians,  or  of  the  people  of  De^oii  and  Cor7iv:all. 

The  dialed  of  Danmonium,  then,  (derived  from  the  Chaldee,  and  blended  with  the 
Phenician,  the  Greek,  and  the  Gaulilh)  may  be  termed  in  contradiftinfVion  with  the 
t-tx-o  other  dialects  of  South  Britain,  the  Cornu-british  or  the  Cornish  tongue.  (<r) 

I  have 

cf  the  oa\  field;  Penmennor,  the  principal  m^unfain;  PoKvbele,  (he  pool- work  ;  Poughill  (Pouguil) 
the  country  frequented  by  gulls  ;  Rofcorla,  the -valley  of  the  Jhecp-fdd  ;  Rofevallen,  the  afple-i:allef  \ 
Sulleh,  the  rocks  cf  the  fun\  Trehane,  the  eld  toivn — in  Probus,  the  feat  of  one  of  the  moft  refpedl- 
able  families  in  CornwaU  ;  Trt\^z\viox\,  giant' s-town;  Tre'r-druw,  the  Druid's-toivni  Tremadah, 
the  tonvn  of  extajy  ;  Trembleath,  the  ludf's-toivn. 

{a)  "  The  Corn:fh  and  De-vonpire  tongue  feems  to  retain  the  footfteps  of  the  mofl  ancient  Brit'ifh 
language,  and  has  in  it  the  very  idioms  of  the  Phenician  and  Greek  nations."  Sammes'  Britan.  p.  4. 

(i)  "  The  greaiert  argument  produced  to  make  this  ifland  peopled  from  Gaul,  is  the  confinity  of 
language  between  the  ancient  Bntair.s  and  Gauls,  The  confinity  of  langnage  between  the  ancient 
Sritains  and  Gauls  proceeds  not  from  their  being  one  nation,  but  from  the  Grecians  and  Phoenicians 
who  traded  to  both,  and  the  words  produced  by  Mr.  Canbden  for  that  purpofe,  I  fhall  fliew  to  be 
moft  of  them  Plcenician,  fome  Greek,  and  as  for  the  reft  they  have  little  analogy  one  v.ith  another, 
and  that  which  is,  may  proceed  from  tlie  invafion  of  Britain  by  the  Gauls,  and  the  intercourfe  of 

Druids  in  both  nations."    Sammes,  p.  11. "  If  we  take  away  the  words  which  were  introduced 

into  Bri'rAn  and  Gaul,  either  by  the  Pkcenicians  or  Greeks,  or  laft  of  all  by  the  R'^mans,  poflibly  no 
two  languages  may  be  judged  more  remote  than  theirs  was,  and  then  Mr.  Cambder.^s  large  catalogue 
of  words  will  be  reduced  to  a  fmall  number  indeed."  Sammes,  p.  90.——"  That  Britain  could  not 
luvs  been  peopled  from  Gaul  (f<iys  Sammes)  Caefar  methinks  makes  it  evident — where  he  fays,  that 
the  inlanders  reported  themfelves  to  be  Aborigines— which  they  could  not  have  done,  had  they 
agreed  in  language  with  the  maritime  Gauls.  It  would  be  vanity  in  any  country,  to  pretend  a  difFe- 
lent  original,  and  not  to  fpeak  a  different  language,  the  chief  criterion."     Sammes,  p.  ic. 

(c)  "  The  moft  material  fingularities  in  this  tongue  are,  that  the  fubftantive  is  placed  generally 
licfore  the  adjc^ive  ;  the  prepofuion  comes  fometimes  after  the  cafe  governed  ;  the  nominative,  and 
governed  cafe,  and  pronouns,  are  oftentimes  incorporated  with  the  verb  ;  letters  are  changed  in  the 
beginning,  middle,  or  end  of  a  word,  or  fyllable ;  fome  omitted,  fome  inferred  ;  and  (much  to  the 
commendation  of  this  tongue)  of  feveral  words  one  is  compounded  (as  in  (he  Greek)  for  the  fake 
of  brevity,  found,  and  expreflion.(i)"     Borlafe's  Nat.  Hift.  p.  314. 

■  1;  Of  which  fee  Lhuyd"!  Afcnseologia,  p.  215,  5.c. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  193 

I  have  now  fufficlently  defcanted  on  the  language  of  the  Danmonians. 

How  far  the  faenccs  and  the  arts  were  cultivated  at  this  period,  in  Devon(hire,  can 
only  be  learnt  from  our  obfervation  of  the  Druids.  That  the  Druids  applied  themielves 
to  {a)  aftronomy  and  geography,  Cslar  and  Mela  aflure  us  -.  But  wh.it  proficiency  they 
irade  in  thefe  Ihidies,  is  a  fubjeft  of  difpute.  Mr.  Chappie  (as  we  have  feen  in  his 
account  of  the  Cromlech)  reprefents  the  Druids  as  deep  aitronomers.  Their  mode  of 
computing  time  was  certainly  remarkable.  Spaiia  omnis  {b)  tcmporis  (fays  Cael'ar)  non 
nitmero  dleruni,  fed  nodium  jiiiiunt  -.  et  dies  natales,  et  menf.um  et  anuorum  initia  fic  ohfer- 
'varjt,  ut  no8em  dies  fuhfcquatur.  This  is  one  of  the  moft  extraordinary  of  the  Druidical 
ufages.  It  evidently  fpeaks  the  high  antiquity  of  the  Druids  ;  whilft  it  difcovers  a  tenet 
of  this  venerable  priefthood,  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  world,  the  night  was  anterior 
to  the  day.  The  Druids  believed,  that  before  the  creation,  one  univerial  darknefs  pre- 
vailed, and  that  the  day  fprung  out  of  night ;  and,  therefore,  computed  by  nights  and  not 
by  days.  This  agrees  with  the  Molaic  hiitoiy ;  and  thus  the  Hebrews  computed  time. 
When  "  in  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  darknefs  ivas  upon  the 
face  of  the  deep  :"  And  "  when  God  divided  the  light  from  the  darknefs,  the  e-ven'mg 
and  the  jnorning  <voere  the  firfi  day.  (r)  Does  not  this  ftrongly  favour  of  the  oriental  ? 
Was  there  any  fuch  cuftom  among  the  continentals  of  Europe  ?  Was  there  any  fuch 
cuftom  even  in  Italy,  the  peculiar  leat  of  fuperftition  ?  The  Druids  (and  Britiili  Princes) 
were  alfo  acquainted  with  the  virtue  of  fmiples,  and  fkilled  in  the  application  of  them 
to  the  body.  Thus  we  lee  a  Caledonian  chief,  in  the  poems  of  Offian,  "  who  had  fearched 
for  the  herbs  of  the  mountains,  and  gathered  them  on  the  fecret  banks  of  their  ftreams, 
and  whofe  hand  had  clofed  the  wound  of  the  valiant."  And  of  another,  it  is  declared, 
"  that  to  clofe  the  wound  was  his — he  had  known  the  herbs  of  the  hills,  and  had  feized 
their  fair  heads  on  high  as  they  waved  by  their  fecret  Itreams."  Medicinal  Botany,  indeed, 
was  engrafted  on  the  ftock  of  the  Britilh  religion  :  And  the  Druids  were  at  once  our 
phyficians  and  our  prieib.  T\\t  fajnol,  probably  <)sxfi  featnar,  or  wild  trefoil  (what  the 
Irilh  Britons  wear  at  prefent  in  their  hats  on  St.  Patrick's  day)— the  -ijer-vain—^htfdagOf 
a  kind  of  favin — and  the  mifletoe  of  the  oak — v/ere  the  favourite  plants  of  the  Druids  in 
medicine  as  well  as  in  religion.  Anatomy  was  another  fcience  with  which  the  Druids 
are  faid  to  have  been  acquainted  ;  though  I  can  fcarcely  conceive,  that  they  app!ied  their 
anatomical  knowledge  to  medical  ufes.  Yet  the  Druids  of  Danmonium  were  famous  in 
medicine— not  lefs  fo  than  the  phyficians  of  Perlla.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Druids  at- 
tended greatly  to  phyfiology.  Thev  fearched  into  the  fecrets  of  nature.  They  fpecii- 
lated  on  the  eflence  of  God,  the  origin  of  all  things,  the  diffolution  of  the  world.  Their 
doiSlrines  relating  to  the  immoitality  and  tranlinigration  of  the  foul,  which  were  taught 
by  the  Brachmans,  and  are  ftiil  maintained  by  the  priefts  of  India,  are  manifeft  proofs  of 
their  religious  learning.  With  refpefl  to  the  imttati-ve  arts,  it  appears  that  the  Druids 
wei-e  verled  both  in  painting  and  poetry.  Their  pidure  of  Hercules  Ogmius,  as  delcnbed 
by  Lucian,  difplays  their  delicate  refinement  in  emblematical  reprelentation  ;  whilft  it 
marks  the  affinity  of  their  genius  to  the  Afiatic  :  And  their  attachment  to  the  fublimer 
poetrv,  ieems  to  prove  their  fuperiority  to  every  European  people.  But  fome  engravings 
on  the  Britifli  coins  are  unequivocal  teftimonies  of  the  tafte  of  the  Britons  for  engravmg. 
The  war- chariot  I  have  mentioned,  v.as  defigned  by  a  Briton— it  was  fketched  out  by  a 
Britilh  hand,  and  engra-jed  upon  a  Britifh  coin.  This  is  a  proof  of  forne  degree  of  pro- 
ficiency made  in  the  elegant  as  Avell  as  mecka?ncal  arts. 

For  the  inftruaion  of  the  Danmoninns,  in  thofe  parts  of  their  knowledge  which  they 
thought  proper  to  communicate,  the  Druids  inltituted  feminaries  of  learning,  and  were 

themfelves 

{a)  That  the  Brachmans  are  well  acquainted  with  aftronomy,  appears  from  M.  Le  Gentll's  account 
of  a  Voyage  to  India.  The  Indians  on  the  coaft  of  Coromandcl,  exprefs  their  knowledge,  we  find, 
in  -verje:  or  allegorical  fymUls ;  and  the  explication  of  the  charafters  is  often  difficult  and  flo"bt'"'> 
on  account  of  the  incapacity  of  the  interpreters.  The  curiofity  of  M.  Le  Gentil  was  excited  by  the 
accounts  he  had  heard  at  Pondicherry,  of  the  aftronomy  of  the  Tamoult  Indians  ;  and  nothing  could 
eaual  his  furprlze,  when  he  faw  the  facility  with  which  one  of  thefe  Indians  calculated,  in  his  pre- 
fence,  an  eclipfe  of  the  moon  (which  he  had  propofed  to  him)  with  all  the  prehminary  elements 
of  that  phenomenon,  in  three  quarters  of  an  hour.  (^)  lib.  6.         .  ,      ■     r 

(0  Genefis,  c,  i.    This  circumftancs  elcaped  not  the  obf«rvation  of  Richard.  See  p.  9. 

Vol.  I.  Pbs 


19+  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

themfeives  the  teachers  of  the  Brltifti  youth.  And  fonie  folitary  cavern,  or  kani,  or 
facred  wood,  was  commonly  the  place  of  inftiHiftion,  That  our  Danmonian  leaders  were 
not  illiterate,  muft  follow  from  the  ueceffity  of  their  attention  to  learning;  fince  no  per- 
fon,  we  are  toJd,  who  had  not  been  educated  vmder  a  Druid,  was  qualified  for  public 
employments.  It  has  appeared,  that  the  Druids  inftrufted  their  difciples  in  verfe  j  whicli 
the  latter  were  not  allowed  to  commit  to  writing,  lelt  they  (liould  render  the  Druidical 
wifdoni  familiar  to  the  public  eye,  or  trufting  too  much  to  what  they  had  written,  fuffer 
tlieir  memories  to  be  impaired  for  want  of  exertion.  Such  are  Casiar's,  and  fucb  are, 
doubtlefs,  the  true  reafons  which  induced  the  Druids  to  lay  this  injunftion  on  their 
fcholars.  Yet  there  are  fev^eral  antiquaries,  who  aflert,  that  the  Druids  prohibited  all 
kinds  of  writing.  The  Dj'uids  were  accuilomed  alfo  to  convey  their  inftruftions  to  their 
di'ciples  through  the  medium  of  allegorical  pifture  j  and  this  with  the  true  oriental  fpirit. 
Such,  then,  was  tl^e  learning  of  the  Druids,  diffufed  in  a  certain  degree  among  tlie 
fuperior  ranks  of  the  Danmonians.  To  enquire  into  the  perlbnal  hillory  of  any  leiirned 
men  among  the  Danmonians,  during  this  oblcure  period,  would  be  idle  and  abfurd.  It 
is  fatisfaftory  enough,  at  this  early  Itage  of  literature,  to  fliew,  that  the  language  of  the 
Danmonians,  in  general,  was  reipeftable  j  and  that  their  knowltdge  (a)  was  by  no  means 
cojitemptible. 

SECTION 

(a)  Not  contemptible,  indeed  !  Let  us  clofe  our  view,  with  fome  remarks  of  Col.  VALLANCEY 
on  the  LEARNED  and  intelligent  people,  whence  they  fprung;  and  with  an  extraxQ-  from  Sir 
WILLIAM  JONES'S  AJuitic  Rejearchei.  "  The  S.  Scythians  of  the  Saxon  chronicle  (fays  Vallancey) 
were  originaliy  feated  in  Mefopotamia,  Shinar  and  Armenia,  and  had  fettled  in  Egypt,  Palefline, 
and  Phcenicia,  whence  they  emigrated  to  Spain,  and  laflly  to  the  Brkar.nk  IJles.'"  "  The  true 
Scuthai  (fays  Bryant)  (i)  were  undoubtedly  a  very  leaeneo  akd  intelligent  peo- 
FLE  ;  but  their  origin  is  not  to  be  looked  for  in  the  north  of  Afia ;  or  the  deferts  of  Tartary.  There 
was  a  country  named  Scythia,  far  In  the  eajl,  of  which  little  notice  has  been  hitherto  taken.  It  was 
Tituated  in  the  great  Indk  Ocean:  and  confided  of  a  widely-extended  region,  called  scythia 
i-YMYRiCA.(2)  Though  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  were  unknown  for  ages,  there  was  a  time, 
when  thev  rendered  themfeives  very  refpedable.  For  they  carried  on  an  extenfive  commerce,  and 
WERE  ?-.PERIOR  IN  SCIENCE  TO  ALL  THE  NATIONS  IN  THEIR  NEIGHBOUR- 
HOOD ;  and  thk  ioa.i  long  before  the  danvn  of  learning  in  Greece  j  even  before  the  corftltiitlcK  of  tr.any 
ff'incital'uies^  into  ivhkb  the  Hdltnic  ft-ate  -wai  di-viAed.  A<;  they  are  reprefented  of  the  higheft  anti- 
quity, and  of  great  power,  and  as  they  are  faid  to  have  fubdaed  mighty  kingdoms,  and  to  have 
claimed  precedency  even  of  the  Egyptians,  it  is  worth  while  to  enquire  into  the  hiftory  of  this  won- 
derful people.  To  me  then,  it  appears  very  manifeU,  that  what  was  termed  by  the  Greeks 
"Lm'^x  "^iivOix  I.xv9ty.x.  was  originally  Cutha,  Cuthai,  Guthica.  and  related  to  the  family  of  Chus. 
He  was  called  by  the  Babylonians  ^nd  Chaldeans  Cuth,  and  his  pofterity  Cuthites  and  Cutheans. 
The  countries  where  they  at  tim.es  fettled,  v^-ere  uniformly  denominated  Irom  them  ;  but  wiiat  was 
properly  fliled  Cutha,  the  Greeks  expreffed  with  a  Si^ma  prefixed.  Epiphanius  has  tranfmitted  to 
us  a  curious  epitome  of  the  whole  Scythlc  hiftory.  Thofe  nations,  fays  he,  which  reach  fouthward 
from  that  part  of  tlie  world,  where  the  two  great  continents  of  Europe  and  Afia  incline  to  each 
other,  and  are  conne<aed,  were  univerfalJy  ftik-d  Scythae,  according  to  an  appellation  of  long  landing. 
Thefe  were  of  that  family,  who  ereded  the  greatfower  called  Babel.  Tl^ey  were  the  Cuthite  Shep- 
hej-ds,  who  came  into  Egypt,  and  many  of  them  fettled  in  Armenia."  In  another  place,  Bryant  fays ; 
*'  We  may,  I  think,  be  afTured,  that  by  the  term  Scuthai,  are  to  be  underrtood  Cutbai.  They  were  tlte 
defcendants  of  Chus,  who  felzed  upon  the  region  of  Babylonia  and  Chaldea  j  and  conftituted 
the  firft  kingdom  upon  the  earth.  Among  themfeives  their  general  patronymic  v^-as  Cutk,  and  their 
country  Catha.  They  were  an  ingenious  and  knowing  people,  as  I  have  before  obferved;  and  at  the 
fame  time  very  prolific.  A  large  body  invaded  Egypt,  when  as  yet  it  was  in  its  infant  ftate,  made  up 
Cf  litde  independent  dlftrifls,  artlefs  and  uninformed,  without  any  rule  or  polity.  They  feized  the 
whole  country,  and  held  it  for  fome  ages  in  fubjeition:  and  from  their  arrival,  the  hiftory  of  Egypt 
will  be  found  to  commence.  The  region  between  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  where  they  originally 
refided,  was  ftlled  the  country  of  the  Chajdim  ;  but  by  the  weftern  nations  Chaldea.  It  lay  to- 
wards the  lower  part  of  the  Tigris  to  the  weft,  and  below  tlie  plain  of  Shinar.  This  country  is  faid 
to  have  been  alfo  called  Scutha ;  and  the  author  of  the  Chronicon  Pafchaie  mentions  Scutha  in  thefe 
parts,  who  were  fo  called  in  his  days."(4)  "  If  I  millake  not  (fays  Vallancey)  the  Scutha  were  io 
named  from  their  being  the  ftrit  navigators — this  is  the  charafter  given  of  the  foutbem  Scutha  by 

Dionyfius." 

(i)  My/holog)-,  vo'..  3,  p,  135,  &c.  {«)  Ptolem.  Geogr.  L.4.  p.  121.  (3)  M>'thology,  vol.  3.  p.  175. 

(4;  .^ft«fui  lvi%,  chat  Neah  lelt  the  ScythUn  Artntoiant  bit  ritual  bookct  which  only  prictts,  an4  Uiat  «nly  amon  j  pri«fl^ 


The    BRITISH     PERIOD.  195 

SECTION      X. 

FIEWof  the  PERSONS  and  POPULATION  of  the  DANMONIANS,  during  the  BRITISH 

PERIOD. 

I.  riezv  of  the  Perfons  of  the  Danmonians — Cafar's  diJtinSiion  bet-zveen  the  maritime  Brittms 
from  Gaul,  and  the  Aborigines — the  Aborigines  of  Danmonium,  rejemblitig  the  Irijh  and  the 
Highlanders,  in  fature,  bodily  ftrength,  fair  complexion,  and  red  hair — in  thefe  faints 
more  like  the  oriental  nations,  than  the  Gaidijh  tribes. — II.  Phenicians,  Greeks,  and 
Gaidijh  tribes. — III.  Populoifnefs  of  the  Ifland,  at  the  clofe  of  this  Period. 

IT  feems  to  have  been  the  opinion  of  Tacitus,  that,  among  the  great  variety  of  con- 
tingencies, which  aft  both  upon  the  body  and  the  mind  of  man,  the  climate  hath  not 
the  flighteft  influence.  Agreeably  to  this  notion,  an  analogy  hath  frequently  been  fomied 
between  the  air  and  foil  of  a  country,  and  the  bodily  and  mental  conltitution  of  its  inha- 
bitants.  The  Britons,  in  particular,  have  been  reprefented  wild  as  the  winds  that  howled 
around  them — and  rough  as  their  native  hills.     But  this  is,  for  the  moll  part,  a  pifture 

from 

Dionyfius." Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  Sir  WILLIAM  JONES.     At  the  opening  of  the 

fixth  difcouife,  (5)  on  the  Perfians,  delivered  19th  February,  1789;  the  prefident,  Sir  WILLIAM 
JONES  informs  his  audience  that  he  turns  with  delight  from  the  vaft  mountains  and  barren  deferts 
of  Turan,  over  which  he  had  travelled  laft  year  with  no  perfedl  knowledge  of  his  courfe,  to  purfue 
his  journey  through  one  of  the  inoft  celebrated  and  moft  beautiful  countries  in  the  world  ;  a  coun- 
try, the  hiftory  and  languages  of  which  he  had  long  attertively  ftudied,  and  on  which  he  might, 
without  arrogance,  promife  mere  pofitive  information,  than  he  could  poflibly  procure  on  a  nation  (o 
difunited  and  fo  unlettered  as  the  Tartars.  He  proceeds  to  defcribe  the  fnuation  of  Perfa,  as  it  is 
improperly  called  by  Europeans  5  the  name  of  a  fingle  province  being  applied  to  the  whole  empire 
of  Iran."  Having  tinifhed  his  preliminary  remarks,  he  adverts  to  a  variety  of  topics,  among  which 
the  ancient  languages,  and  the  frme'val  religicn  and  chara&ers  of  Iran,  have  a  confiderable  fliare 
of  his  attention.  He  concludes  his  difcourl'e,  by  recapitulating  the  principal  pofitions,  which  he 
has  endeavoured  to  eftablifti  -.  "  Thus  has  it  been  proved  by  clear  evidence  and  plain  reafoning, 
that  a  powerful  monarchy  was  eftabliflied  in  Iran  long  before  the  AlTyrian,  or  Pifhdadi,  govern- 
ment ;  that  it  was  in  truth  a  Hindu  monarchy,  thougii,  if  any  chufe  to  call  it  Cufian,  Cafdean,  or 
Scythian,  we  fliall  not  enter  into  a  debate  on  mere  names ;  that  it  fubfifted  many  centuries,  and 
that  its  hiftory  has  been  ingrafted  on  that  of  the  Hindus,  who  founded  tlie  monarchies  of  Ayodhya 
and  Indraprefthaj  that  the  language  of  the  firft  Perfian  empire  was  the  mother  of  the  Sanfcrit, 
and  confequentJy  of  the  Zend,  and  I'arfi,  as  v.ell  as  of  Greek,  Latin,  and  Gothick;  that  the  lan- 
guage of  the  A/Tyrians  was  the  parent  of  Chaldaick  and  Pahlavi,  and  that  the  primary  Tartarian 
language  alfo  had  been  current  in  the  fame  empire ;  although,  as  the  Tartars  had  no  books  or  even 
letters,  we  cannot  with  certainty  trace  their  unpoli/hed  and  variable  idioms.  We  difcover,  there- 
fore, in  Perfia,  at  the  earlieft  dawn  of  hiftory,  the  three  diftindl  races  of  men,  whom  we  defcribed 
on  former  occafions  as  poflTeflbrs  of  India,  Arabia,  and  Tartary;  and,  whether  they  were  col- 
lefted  in  Iran  from  diftant  regions,  or  diverged  from  it,  as  from  a  common  centre,  we  fhall  cafily 
determine  by  the  following  confiderations.  Let  us  otferve,  in  the  firft  place,  the  central  pofition  of 
Iran,  which  is  bounded  by  Arabia,  by  Tartary,  and  by  India  ;  whilft  Arabia  lies  contiguous  to  Iran 
only,  but  Is  remote  from  Tartary,  and  divided  even  from  the  fkirts  of  India  by  a  confiderable  gulf: 
no  country,  therefore,  but  Perfia,  feems  likely  to  have  fent  forth  its  colonies  to  all  the  kingdoms  of 
Afia  :  the  Brahmans  could  never  have  migrated  from  India  to  Iran,  becaufe  they  are  exprefsly  for- 
bidden by  their  oldeft  exifting  laws  to  leave  the  region,  which  they  inhabit  at  this  day;  the  Arabs 
have  not  even  a  tradition  of  an  emigration  into  Perfia  before  Mohammed,  nor  had  they  indeed  any 
inducement  to  quit  their  beautiful  and  extenfive  domains;  and,  as  to  the  Tartars,  we  have  no  trace 
in  hiftory  of  their  departure  from  their  plains  and  forefts,  till  the  invafion  of  the  Medes,  who,  ac- 
cording to  etymologifts,  were  the  fons  of  Madai ;  and  even  they  were  condudled  by  princes  of  an 
Aflyrian  family.  The  three  races,  therefore,  whom  we  have  already  mentioned,  (and  more  than 
tl)ree  we  have  not  yet  found,)  migrated  from  Iran,  as  from  their  common  country ;  and  thus  the 
Saxon  chronicle,  I  prefume,  from  good  authority,  brings  the  firll  inhabitants  of  Britain  from  Arme- 
nia ;  while  a  late  very  learned  writer  concludes,  after  all  his  laborious  refearches,  that  the  Goths  or 
Scythians  came  from  Perfia ;  and  another  contends,  with  great  force,  that  both  the  Irifti  and  old 
Britons  proceeded  feverally  from  the  borders  of  the  Cafplan;  a  coincidence  of  conclufions  from  dif- 
ferent media  by  perfons  wholly  unconnected,  which  could  fcarce  have  happened,  if  they  were  not 
grounded  on  folid  principles !" 

(1)  A&jtic  Rcrcarches,  vol,  s, 


196 


HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 


from  fancy.  (<j)  Wluthtr,  however,  this  connexion  between  the  climate  of  Britain  and 
its  inhabitants  be  admitted  or  rejeiTted,  wc  would  with  to  be  acquainted  with  the  real 
charafter  of  both.  Yet,  here,  ancient  authors  arc  again  at  vai  i.mce.  Wliilll  Diodorus 
intimates,  that  the  air  of  this  illand  is  cold,(/>)  Ca;lar  talks  of  the  milder  temperature  of 
Brit;iin  as  comp:ired  with  Gaul,  and  Tacitus  particularly  no. ices  the  foftnefs  of  our  cli- 
mate, (r)  With  refpeft  to  the  lirlt  Britons,  Diodorus  calls  them  izi'hx,^o)ix  ys-.n  ;  and 
Tacitus  lavs  :  "  Britanniam  qyi  mort.^les  initio  colv Emur,  j/idi^ena  aJvedli, 
ut  inter  barbaros,  parum  compertum."  (.-i)  For  the  perfons  of  the  Britons,  Ca;far's 
report  is,  that  "  thole  who  lived  nearellGaul,  were  very  like  the  Gauls  ;  probably  owing 
to  their  being  defcended  from  the  fame  original  Jiack,  and  their  dwelling  almost  in  the 
fame  climate. "(f)  Here  Calar  ellablillies  a  clear  diilinction  between  the  maritime  Bri- 
tons and  the  Aborigines.  He  attributes  the  likenefs  of  the  maritime  Britons  to  the  Gauls, 
to  their  having  I'prung  from  the  fame  Itock  :  Whence  we  may  infer  his  opinion,  that  the 
inland  Britons  or  Aborigines,  not  reiembling  the  Gauls,  points  out  a  very  different  origin. 
Thou'^b  not  decided  as  to  their  real  origin,  yet  Ca;lar  clearly  law,  that  the  Aborigines 
could ^never  have  come  trom  Gaul.  And  this  was  evidently  the  fenfe  of  all  his  contem- 
poraries. The  caie  was  fo  plain,  that  to  alfert  exprefsly,  that  the  Aborigines  were  not 
derived  from  Gaul,  would  have  ftruck  Caviar  as  an  abfurdity.  The  direct  affirmation  of 
an  obvious  truth,  which  has  never  been  doubted,  is  always  ridiculous. 

The  Abori<^ines  were  a  different  race  of  beings  from  the  Gaulilh  coafters.  They  were 
remarkably  large  and  tall.  "  The  Britons  (fays  Sti-abo)  exceed  the  Gauls  in  ftature  j 
of  which  i  had  ocular  demonftration.  For  I  law  fome  young  Britons  at  Rome,  who 
•were  half  a  foot  taller  than  the  talietl  men.'Y/^  I^'  ^^  we  have  frequently  done,  we  turn 
our  views  to  Ireland  and  the  Highlands,  we  fliall  difcover  a  ftriking  likcnefs  in  the  inha- 
bitants of  both,  to  the  tirll  Danmonians,  or  the  original  race  of  South-Britain.  The  Irilh 
and  the  North  Britoins  were  remarkable  for  their  large  limbs  and  high  ftature  :  And  in 
other  particulars,  we  fliail  fee,   they  referabled  the  uumixt,  undegenerated  people  of 

Danmoniura. 

(a)  One  of  our  writers,  drawing  the  charaiHer  of  the  Danmonians,  fays  :  "  The  ancient  inhabit- 
ants of  this  county  are  reprefented  as  intrepid,  prodigal  of  life,  conftant  in  affefVion,  courteous  to 
ftrangers,  and  extremely  fond  of  popular  applaufe.  For  the  barb.irity  of  thefe  times,  the  Danmonii 
were  a  civil  and  courteous  people  -.  They  were  ftout  and  puiilant;  taking  heart  c-ven  of  the  joU-  itjtlf^ 
tnd  embchUned  by  the  rcughne/s  of  their  czuntiy."''  Richards,  in  his  "Aboriginal  Britons,"  often 
ftarts  this  Idea— in  my  opinion,  not  happily.  And  his  portrait  of  the  ancient  Briton,  may  be  poeiical 
tBoueh  ;  It  is,  certainly,  not  a  juft  one— 

Rude  as  the  n.L'l!di  around  his  fylvan  home. 
In  favage  gr-indeur  fee  the  Briton  roam  : 
Bare  were  his  limbs,  and  llrung  with  toil  and  cold, 
Ey  untam'd  nature  call  in  giant  mould. 
O'er  his  broad  brawny  fnoulders,  Icofely  flung, 
Shaggy  and  long,  his  yellow  ringlets  hung. 
His  walil  an  iron-belred  falchion  bore, 
Ma/Ty,  and  purpled  deep  with  human  gore. 
His  fcarr"d  and  rudely  painted  limbs  around, 
Fantaftic  horror-fkriklng  figures  frown'd, 
Which,  monfler-like,  ev'n  to  the  confines  raii 
Of  nature's  work,  and  left  him  hardly  man. 
His  knitted  brows  and  rolling  eyes  impart 
A  direful  image  of  his  ruthlefs  heart ; 
Where  War  and  human  Bloodlhed,  brooding,  lie, 
Like  thunders,  lowering  in  a  gloomy  Iky. 
(h)  D'lcicr.  Sicul  Wefs.  Tom.  I.  p.  -;47-     "  *ff'^'  ^'«9ec7<v  way^jXa,j  xaltvlt^y^rv*?*.'' 
ic)  Cafar—'BeW.  Gall.  12.     "  Loca  funt  temperatiora,  quara  in  Gallia,  remiflionbus  frigonbus. 
Tjiit.  Vit.  Agric,  c.  12.     "  Afperitas  frig  rum  abeft." 

(d)   Tul.  Agric.  c.  ii.  .     ,  .        ,        ^  .  ,     „      . 

(c)  Caefar,  1.  5,  c.  12.  Cifar's  knowledge  of  die  Britons,  was  m  fome  points  fuperficial :  But  it 
vas  enough 'to  enable  him  to  draw  a  juft  outline  of  them.  The  particulars  Caefar  learnt  relating  to 
the  Danmonians,  were  from  the  Gaullfh  merchants  and  from  the  people  of  Kent,  who  knew  litde 

of  De^'onfl^ire.  •  r,  ••       . 

ff)  Strabo,  lib.  5,  p.  2CO.     "  ProceritJte  corporis  Gallos   aque  ac  Romanoi  -vincunt  Bntcnet  ;  ita  «f 
•oifoi  fihi  Romle  jwvencs  ncndumque  adullos  Britcnts  Strabo  fhikjcphui,  orbis  terra  dtfcriptor  ar.liquifft- 
,  affirmct,  ^ui  folitam  Galkrum  Ritr.anirumqut  Jlaturam  tun  kvi  niomcnto  exfcddant."  Ricard,  p.  7 


nuh 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  197 

Danmonium.  The  Danmonians  were  no  lef's  celebrated  for  their  bodily  Jirevgth{a)  than 
for  their  gigantic  fize.  And  the  Irifh  and  the  Highhniders  were  wonderfully  vigorous. 
Wrellliug  is  an  exercife  well  calculated  for  the  difplay  of  bodily  ftrength  :  And  the 
Danmonians,  the  Irifli,  and  the  Highlanders,  excelled  all  the  Europeans  in  wreftling. 
OfTian  thus  del'cribes  Fingal  and  Swaran,  wreftling.  "  Their  finewy  arms  bend  round 
eacli  other  -.  they  turn  from  fide  to  fide,  and  ftrain  and  ftretch  their  large  fpreading  limbs 
below.  But,  when  the  pride  of  their  ftrength  arofe,  they  (hook  the  hill  with  their  heels  : 
Rocks  tumble  from  their  places  on  high  :  the  green-headed  buflies  are  overturned."  {J}) 
It  appears,  that  the  firft  Danmonians  had,  in  general,  (c)  fair  complexions ,  and  yellonjj,  or 
red  hair :  Such  was  the  cafe  with  the  Caledonians.  The  hair  of  the  Danmonians  was, 
ahb,  loft  and  curling  :  So  was  that  of  the  Highlanders.  "  Was  he  white  as  the  fnow  of 
Ardven — blooming  as  the  bow  of  the  (liower  ?  Was  his  hair  like  the  mift  of  theiiijl,  foft 
and  curling  in  the  day  of  the  fun  ?  Was  he  like  the  thunder  of  heaven  in  battle  ?  Fleet 
as  the  roe  ol  the  defart  ?"  (t/)  With  refpeft  to  the  females  of  Danmonium,  they  were 
diftinguiihed  for  their  beauty — If  they  refembled  the  Caledonians,  in  the  blue  radiance 
of  their  eyes,  and  in  fairnefs,  and  the  Ibftnels  of  their  perfons.  The  bofom  of  one  of  the 
Caledonian  ladies  is  compared  by  OfTian,  to  the  down  of  the  fwan,  "  when  flow  Ihe  fails 
the  lake,  and  fidelong  winds  are  blowing."  («■ ) 

That  the  eaftern  nations  (particularly  the  Arabians  and  the  Perfians)  approached 
much  nearer  in  their  perlbns,  to  the  inhabitants  of  Danmonium,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
than  any  of  the  Gauliili  tribes,  might  eailly  be  proved.  The  blue  eyes  of  the  eallern 
female,  in  particular,  have  been  already  remarked,  (f) 

By  the  intermixture  of  the  Phenicians,  Greeks,  and  Gallic  tribes,  with  the  Danmo- 
nians, great  alterations  in  their  original  ftature,  ftrength  and  beauty,  muft  have  gradually 
taken  place  :  But  to  difcriminate  thefe  changes,  would  be  impoflible.  From  their  fwajthy 
complexions  and  curled  hair,  Tacitus  conjeftured,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  ibuth-weft 
coaft  had  come  from  Spain.  And  the  Phenicians,  undoubtedly,  formed  fettlements  in 
Spain  J  and,  probably,  in  Danmonium.  To  enquire  further  into  thefe  particulars,  would 
be  fruitlefs. 

To  what  age  the  Danmonians  commonly  lived,  is  a  queftion  to  which  an  anfwer  can- 
not be  reafonably  expected  :  Yet  the  longevity  of  the  Britons  is  memorized  by  Plutarch, 
who  fays,  that  they  lived  to  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  twenty.  And  Plutarch's  intel- 
ligence (with  that  of  the  ancients  in  general)  feems  to  have  been  derived  from  merchants 
trading  to  Danmonium. 

With  refpeft  to  population,  Diodorus  and  C^efar  agree  in  their  reports,  that  the  ifland 
was  well  ftored  with  inhabitants.  The  number  of  towns,  indeed,  on  the  foutli-weifc  fhore, 
which,  according  to  Suetoni'-.s,  were  fubdued  by  the  Romans,  fufficiently  prove  the 
populoufnefs  of  this  part  of  the  ifland,  about  the  dole  of  the  Britiih  Period. 

{a)  See  Carew's  Survey  of  Cornwall,  p.  56,  57,  58.  {h)  Oflian,  v.  i,  p.  6i,  63. 

(c)   Strabo,  1.  5,  p.  2CO.  (<f)  Oflian,  v. 'i,  p.  90.  («)  Oflian,  v.  i,  p.  5S. 

(f)  For  an  illuftration  of  this  topic,  I  would  refer  my  readers  to  the  -■Arabian  Nights'  Entertain- 
ments, and  Sir  W.  Jones's  various  defcnptions  of  the  ojiental  nations. 


SECTION 


19S  HISTORICAL   VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

SECTION     XI. 

HEJV  of  tke  CHARACTER,  MANNERS,  and  USAGES  of  the  DANMONIANS,  durim 

the  BRITISH  PERIOD. 

I.  The  Courage  of  the  Damnonians — their  refilefs  Acliv'tty — their  Simplicity — their  fidelity 
and  Attachment  to  their  refpeSli-ve  Tribes — their  Frugalit_y — their  Hofpitalify — their  Cha- 
raHer  from  Diodorus — their  refentfid  Temper — their  Cruelty — their  intemperate  Curiofity, 
a  Grecian  feature — their  Superjiition. — II.  The  modes  of  Addrefs  among  the  Danmonians 
—their  matrimonial  Connexio/u — their  Drefs — their  dojnefic  Accommodations  and  Ufages— 
their  Diet — their  principal  Sports — their  Cufloms  in  U^ar,  and  military  Apparatus,  parti- 
cularly the  fcythed  Chariot — Examination  of' the  quefion,  -Tvhether  the  fcythed  Chariot  ivas 
Oriental  or  Gaulijh — the  Rites  of  Sepulture  in  Danmonium. — III.  Chara£ler,  Majiners, 
and  Ufages  of  the  Danmonians,  highly  fa'vourable  to  the  Eajlern  Hypothefis — this  Hypothefis 
founded  on  Jirong  circumjiantial  Evidence  \  -ivhich,  on  a  re-vie-iu  of  the  nvhole  Chapter, 
feems  irrefiftihle. 

HISTORY  prefents  us  with  few  fubjefts  more  curious  or  pleafing,  than  the  manners 
of  nations.  But  the  asra  of  the  Danmonians  is  much  too  remote,  to  furnifli  us 
with  any  fatisfaftory  views  in  this  line  of  fpeculation.  The  pertons  of  the  ancient  inha- 
bitants of  the  weft  have  been  already  defcribed.  We  are  now  to  examine  their  mental 
characlerj  theii-  --uirtues  and  their  <'jices — and  their  more  remai-kable  habitudes  and  cufojns. 

Among  the  virtues  of  a  people  not  highly  polifhed,  courage  or  perfonal  intrepidity  is 
generally  the  moft  prominent.  And  courage  was  a  virtue  of  the  Danmonians.  After 
having  enumerated  the  different  tribes,  from  the  continent,  that  gradually  eftablifhed 
themfelves  in  vaj-ious  parts  of  the  ifland,  Richard  mentions  the  Danmonii,  as  a  race  of 
people  the  ftrongeft  and  moft  courageous  of  all :  He  defcribes  them,  as  gens  omnium 
'validij/lrna.  But  another  part  of  their  original  charafter,  feems  to  have  been  a  reftlefs 
aclzijity — an  ardent  defire  of  change,  and  a  fondnefs  for  difcoveries,  which  prompted 
them  to  range  over  the  earth,  and  to  invade  the  moft  diftant  territories.  If  we  recur  to 
the  eaftern  countries  (whence  we  have  derived  the  Danmonians)  we  ftiall  find  that  the 
Chaldseans,  mentioned  by  Xenophon  as  a  warlike  nation  of  Armenia,  poffeft  the  fame 
fierce  and  wandering  fpirit ;  in  allufion  to  which  the  prophet  {a)  Kabakkuk  exclaims.- 
"  I  raiie  up  the  Chaldaeans,  that  bitter  and  hafty  nation,  iL-ho  fhall  go  o'ver  the  breadth 
of  the  earth,  to  poffefs  the  dAvelling-places  which  are  not  theirs."  The  funplicity  of  the 
Danmonians  is,  alio,  worthy  notice,  (i)  Diodorus  intimates,  that  they  were  fincere  and 
honeft.  *'  They  are  fimple  in  their  manners  (fays  the  Hiftorian)  very  different  charafters 
from  the  men  of  our  times :  The  obliquity  and  improbity  of  the  prefent  day,  are  far 
removed  out  of  their  fight."  This  opennefs  of  difpofition,  this  abhorrence  of  all  diffi- 
mulation,  was  a  ftriking  charafteriftic  of  thofe  countries,  whence  the  Danmonians  proba- 
bly emigrated.  The  eaftern  nations  and  the  Danmonians  were  alike  diftinguiflied  for 
their  love  of  truth,  (r)  Fidelity  and  attachment  to  their  refpeSlive  tribes,  were  traits  of 
character  no  lefs  remarkable  in  the  Danmonians.  And  there  is  no  paffion  by  which  a 
Highlander  or  a  native  Arab  is  more  diftinguilhed  than  by  an  attachment  to  his  clan  or 
tribe,  and  jealoufy  for  its  honor.  Frugality  was  another  virtue  of  the  Danmonians  : 
This,  too,  marks  the  Highlanders  and  the  Arabs,  who  adhere  to  their  old  plain  diet,  nor 
W'ifli  to  provoke  appetite  by  luxuries.  Yet  the  frugality  of  the  Danmonians,  was  con-- 
nefted  with  the  moft  generous  hofpttality.  The  natives  of  Scotland  and  Arabia  ftill  pre- 
ferve  this  fecial  fpirit ;  and  in  the  franknefs  of  their  domeftic  attentions,  exhibit  the 
ancient  Danmonian  charafter.  Their  kindnefs  to  ftrangers,  in  particular,  brings  back 
to  view  the  generations  that  fiourilhed  in  Devonfhire  and  Cornwall ;  when  the  halls  of 

the 

{a)  Chap.  I .  V.  6.  {b)  "  As  Tacitus  hath  preferred  the  genius  of  the  Britons  to  that  of  the 

Gauls  5  fo  hath  Diodorus,  their  integrity  to  that  of  the  Romans."     Magna  Brit.  p.  la. 

(f)  An  ingenious  man  of  this  county  ufed  often  to  fay — "  that  the  people  of  Devonfliire  and 
Cornwall  were  certainly  derived  from  the  orientals,  forthefe  tliree  reafons :  Their  lliill  in  the  bow— 
their  (kill  in  horfemanihip— and  tbeir  lave  of  (ru(b.'\ 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  19^ 

the  chieftains  echoed  with  fellivity.  Such  were  the  Danmonians ;  of  whom  the  hifto- 
riazi  (a)  has  drawn  the  following  pifture,  to  which  J  have  more  than  once  alluded. 
Kxloiy.eiv  ^s  (pxo-iv  Tr,v  B^ilrxviKm  ATTOX0ON  A  rE.VH,  kxi  rot  iiotKccioi  ^lov  nx's  tzyuiytxis 
^ixr/i^afiac.  /X^fxMO-i  )W.e»  y^atf  ustix  ras  '7TQ?i.e(A.iis  "x^^'jjvliit,  xxQixve^  ot  ■jto.axioi  tcjv  EaX-zivm* 
fiq-jjis  £j/  Ti'  Tfa/iXi)  iroXsiJ.^,  Ksx,^v(r9xi  'jrxexosooylcci .  Kxi  rxs  oiKvcrsts  eunXsis  svisa-tv,  sx 
Ta/y  x.xX<xi^!iiiy  v  ^v'Au-j  xxlx  to  trXii^ov  crv  Y>iBiix.sy»s.  Tijv  ^s  avvxyuynv  rcov  aflmujv  'xxpttx'v 
rrroiailxi,  ms  •^xyvs  avlns  xirois/xvovles  y.xi  Q-rKTXvettpvm  sis  rxs  Kxixytins  oix.n(7eis.  Ek  Se 
TUTcov  ras  itxaxius  Txy^vw  kxQ^  7ti/.s§xv  riKKsiy,  Jt«(  >cais^<y«^o/>c£vay  ^Xi^iv  f^v  reo(priy.  Ton 
OS  y>9s(7iv  ctirk-is  sivxi^  x.xi  ttoXv  Ks^:^^is[j.sms  rr,s  Tji->  vjv  xvO^m'jtcov  xy^ivsixs  y.xi  ttovvpixs. 
Tas  T£  ^ixflxi  sVtsXsis  b^siv,  y.ai  rrts  sx  t«  TrXara  yivofjiiv/is  r^vpvs  iioXv  ^txX?,xrrovrxs, 
Kivxi  oe  y^i  TroXvxiOpuTTov  riv  vn<Toy,  kxi  Tr,v  rts  xepos  s^tiv  oixOeTiv  irxvliK'jjs  Ko[\B-l/vy[/.irr,v, 
as  xv  vir  aviijv  Tr,v  xoy.rov  KtiiJO/riv.  Ba^iXsis  re  kxi  ovvxfxs  itoXXhs  sysiv,  kxi  ttfios 
ec?.Xyi\iSS  xxix  to  iry.a^ov  ei^yiviKus  oixy.cio-out. 

**♦»*#«* 

T»r  yx^  B^slrxviy-vs  vmIx  to  tiiy.fMrYi^iav  to  xaAa^svov  Be?.esioii  oi  kxIoizhvIcs  (piKohvoi  re  oiX' 
(f)iPovTujs  siTt,    KXI    ^i»  Tvv  Tujv  ^ivujv  fw-TTOfiv  n7:(ji.i^jxy  i^Yifj.isuiuivot  Txs  xynjyxsAb) 

In  difcriniinating  the  charafter  of  a  nation  as  of  an  individual,  there  are  vices  which 
muft  ever  be  oppofed  to  virtues.  But  Diodorus  has  not  afcribed  to  the  Danmonians  a 
fingle  vice  :  His  portrait  of  the  ancient  Britons,  is  too  luminous  to  be  juft.  It  is  imper- 
fe6l :  We  w^ant  the  relief  of  (hadow  to  finilli  it.  The  truth  is,  that  the  Danmonians, 
like  other  nations,  not  arrived  at  the  acme  of  civilization,  were  refentful,  and  too  fre- 
quently, cruel.  Thtw  refentinent  was  chiefly  diicoverable  in  their  family-feuds,  which 
were  frequently  tranfmitted  from  generation  to  generation.  The  Highlanders  and  Arabs 
cherifh  the  fame  animofities  :  And,  among  the  latter,  the  war  of  tribes  is  often  entailed, 
in  all  its  horrors,  on  a  long  pofterity.  The  cruelty  of  the  Danmonians  might  be  inftanced 
in  feveral  circumftances :  But  it  was  moft  conlpicuous  in  their  treatment  of  the  (hip- 
wrecked  mariner.  The  people  of  Devonfliire  and  Cornwall,  have  been  addifted  from 
the  earlieft  days  to. a  fpecies  of  plunder,  little  accordant  and  apparently  incompatible 
with  their  hofpitality  to  ftrans^ers.  If  a  vefl'el  be  wrecked  on  their  coalts,  they  confider 
it  as  marked  by  providence  for  their  own  ;  feize  it  as  heaven's  blefling ;  and  fometimes, 
in  the  phrenzy  of  rapacioufnefs,  commit  the  moft  inhuman  outrages  on  thofe,  whofe  fuf- 
ferings  loudly  call  for  pity  and  proteftion.  And  what  is  very  extraordinary,  the  fame 
evil  genius  of  plunder  hath  ever  prevailed  among  the  Arabs. 

Such  are  the  more  prominent  features  of  the  firft  Danmonian  colonifts.  The  Britons 
of  this  period  are  marked  by  feveral  other  lines  of  charaiSter;  fuch  as  might  be  traced, 
perhaps,  in  the  fubfequent  colonifts,  the  Phenicians,  the  Greeks,  and  Gaulifli  tribes. 
That  (f)  intemperate  curiofity,  which,  according  to  fome  writers,  diftinguiflied  the  ancient 
Britons,  particularly  the  Danmonian  merchants,  was,  probably,  a  Grecian  trait. 

Hiftory 

(fl)  Diodorus  fiift  fpeaks  of  the  ifland  ;  Ylt^i  h  r-ns  vri<TS  xxi  m  (pvo/jtsva  xxF  xJlvv  KXTc-ilsPtt 
ivt  oie^ifA.iv.  Avlvi  yxq  ru  s^-n/^xli  r^iyxvos  nax  Trx^x'TrXwius  rv  IiksXix,  rxs  'nXsv^xs  ovx. 
la-OKUiXus  t'j(ti.  Ux^eyPisDiaans  ^s  X'SI-ns  mx^x  rr,v  Ev^wjrr,))  Xo^r,s,  to  /xev  tXx-x^i<^ov  ano  ryjs 
Virci^fi  J/ernJtoj  axeafl'K^tov,  o  nxXnari  Kxvliof,  o  (pacr/v  a7r£;;^E«v  xtto  rris  yns  ^x^ms  us  iy.xlov, 
)ix6'  ov  roTiov  71  OxXxc-o-x.  'jroiefleti  rov  sx^yv.  to  ^'ete^ov  x>i§tJy,^iO))  ToxaAa/xEvov  BsAs^.oy 
ciittYtiv  Xsyirxi  rv,s  r,TTet^s  irXav  rfxi^Mv  tsto-x^xv.  to  ^'  woX£i'^o[xbvov  xvuksiv  yny  iTopua-tv 
iia  TO  mtXxyos,  0)iD(/.x(ec-dxi  Js  Ofxxv.  Tuv  ^e  'tiasv^uii  rr>v  f/.£v  sXx^irvi*  tivxi  tx^icuv  sTrrx- 
X-KTyjXtm  'TTiv'iXKoa-iuv,  iix^viKiio-xv  ira^x  rr,v  Ev^wttyiv.  tijv  ^e  ^evlc^xv  t»»  xvp  m  tTo^OiAH 
TT^os  rr>ii  xoev(f;r.v  xr/ixiiaxv,  '^xlim  ixv^iuv  trsvlxKicriiiXiuy.  rm  ^e  Xoiv-nv,  -rx^ta/v  ^la-fAV^tuv. 
wj-E  Tm  TTxarxv  iivxt  rrta  vith  'n'cgi<^o^xt  ra^'wv  TsTf a;£/CT-/>tyf /wy  '^t-ry i><n,j)i  veylxKoa-tuv.  Diodor, 
Skul.  Weflellng.  Tom.  i.  p.  346.  {b)  Died.  Sicul.  Tom.  1.  p"  346,  347. 

(c)  Inter  catera  fu'it  et  hoz  Brkar.nica  confuetudinis,  ut  -viarores  et  mtrcatores  et]am  w-vltos  conjiftcrt 
cogerent,  et  quod  qutfqtie  torum  de  una  alterave  re  apud  exteros  memorahile  audierit,  aut  cogno-verity 
^utererent,  et  mercatores  peregre  ad-veuientes  iti  oppidis  -vulgus  circumfijleret ;  qu'tbus  ex  regtoribus  ireni' 
ent  j  quafque  ibi  res  cogncver'inc.  pronunciare  cogentes.  His  rtimor'ibus  atque  audhkvibus  permoti,  de  fummis 
fape  rebus  conftUa  ineunt,  quorum  eos  e  iieftigb  panitere  iieceffe  5/?,  qiiim  ificertis  runt'^rihui  ferviarJs  et 
fUrique  ad  voluntatcm  (ortim  jiaa  refpcnddint,    Ricard,  p.  8, 

Vol.  I.  Cc 


zoo  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of    DEVONSHIRE. 

Hj/iory  thus  enables  us  to  touch,  lightly,  on  the  Danraoniati  virtues  itnd  vices :  And 
we  caa  do  no  more — aiileis  we  contemplate  this  people  :is  tincltired  by  fuperjiitio/i,  which, 
^ivcs  a  ftrong  color  to  the  human  mind  ;  pArticuliirly  in  the  nukr  scras  of  fociety.  Super- 
ftition,  indeed,  vi'iW  be  leen  to  influence  the  Danmonians,  in  almoft  every  Tituation : 
And,  though  we  have  ahxjady  maiked  it  under  the  form  of  religion,  yet  oftea  Ihall  we 
fee  it  Ilarting  up,  ia  varioits  i'alhions,  ufages,  and  culloms, 

"Wifchrefpect  totlie  cuftouis  or  fsihions  of  the  Danraonians,  in  common  life,  we  can 
ia-Y  very  little  with  certainty.  Of  thcij-  nwJ£j  of<idd)>ys,  for  inliance,  ive  have  Icaice  any 
acDOun'ti  unleli  the  homage  they  paid  to  perlbns  of  dilluiftion,  by  walking  three  times 
round  them  from  eaft  to  vvell,  be  numbered  among  the  ceremonials  of  fafiuoji. 

In  regard  to  utalrbnomal  coatuxions,  it  appeal's,  that  the  Danmonian  mode  of  courtlhip 
was  entirely  in  the  oriental  ftyle.  The  lover  addrefl'ed  himfeif  firft  to  the  father  of  the 
maid,  and  reqaefted  hi?  da<sgliter  in  marriage.  And  tlie  father,  if  he  agreed  to  the  over- 
ture, "  O'^iitd  the  hail  of  the  (n)  maid,''  the  apartment  in  which  (lie  generally  fat  retirtd 
from  the  mex.  of  the  family — and  inVroduced  the  fuitor  to  his  daughter.  (/>)  The  period 
'of  thrs  coiirtfliip  was  very  thort — refembiing  that  defcribed  (^)  in  Geneiis :  It  was,  in 
every  refpetS  indeed,  patriarchal.  Though  a  Jiiaji  married  but  one  woman,  ivhom  he 
regarded  as  his  wife  \  yet  a  certain  fociety  of  bretliren  or  friends  were  accuitomtd  to  com 
muaicate  their  'xives  to  one  aiiother,  for  their  reciprocal  enjoyment,  (i/)  This  conimunity 
if  ivi'vei  was  tvo  way  fimilai  to  the  marriages  of  the  Gauls,  or  any  other  weftern 
nitioa.  {e)  The  ceremony  of  binding  girdles,  Lmpreli  with  feveral  m3llical  figures, 
about  the  waLfts  of  women  in  labor  (when  a  birth  was  atteaided  with  iiny  difficulty)  was, 
doubtlefs,  of  taffern  origin.  The  words  and  geftures  that  accompanied  this  ceiemony 
marked  its  high  antiquity.  In  the  lame  manner,  the  wife  of  the  Highlander,  when  ad- 
vanced in  her  preguaacy,  was  boimd  with  the  fan^ified  girdle,  to  alleviate  the  pains  and 
expedite  the  birtk.  A  hundred  of  thole  girdles  ase  promiled  by  a  chief,  "  to  bujd  high- 
boibmed  women  r'(^/'^ 

Of  the  /ire/s  of  the  Danmonians,  we  have  had  a  momentary  glinipfe  in  the  furvey  of 
their  raanufa&ures-  The  (g)  ikins  of  beafts  liave  been  too  commonly  miftaken  for  the 
ckjathing  of  tlie  Britons.  Looie  woollen  gs.iraents,  however,  not  leG  :u-tihcial  than  tlie 
Ktantles  of  the  Scotch  or  the  Irilh,  were  certainly  worn,  by  tlie  Danmonians.  And  this 
was  an  oriental  dreis  -.  It  was  in  falhion,  not  long  after  the  <iilperfion.(/^)  But  the  Dan- 
monians were  Armenians,  Phenicians,  Greeks,  aiid  Gatils  -.  Their  dreis,  therefore,  muft 
have  varied  according  to  the  fafliions  of  the  countries  whence  they  came.  And,  in  each 
race,  the  different  ranks  and  orders  of  people  ro.uft  have  been  dilhinguifhed  by  different 
raiKies  of  diefs.  Strabo  dcicribes  the  drels  of  tlie  Danmonians,  as  of  a  flowing  robe  down 
&G  their  feet,  and.  long  fleeves  made  fall  at  the  wjills.  And  the  hillorian  terms  this  robe 
tis}^y^7jzjr/-j — which  is  defcriptive  of  the  color,  as  ivell  as  the  materials  of  which  it  was 

corapofe4. 

(a)  The  Brlt'ifli  virgin  was  marriageable  at  fourteen.     Hcnve!  D-tvu.  L.  n.  c.  i. 

(5)  Ofllac,  vol.  I.  p.  50,  and  iif.  {c)  Genefis,  c.  24. 

\d)  "  The  Britons  formed  themfelves  (fays  Mr.  Wliitaker)  into  a  finance  Tet  of  matrimonial  clubs, 
which  generally  comprehended  ten  or  twenty  families,  and  each  hufband  had  free  accefs  to  each 
wife  m  it."    Cafar,  p.  89. 

{e)  "  The  Britons  had  one  rematkable  cuftom  peculiar  to  themCdves,  and  not  to  be  tn^  with,  as 
far  ac  we  know,  in  the  praftice  of  any  other  nation.  We  mean  a  fort  cj  community  of  -zci-vcs,  which 
according  to  dsfar,  was  after  this  manner.  Ten  or  twelve  of  them,  efpecially  brethren  with  each 
other,  and  parents  with  their  children,  had  wives  together  in  common;  yet  ib,  as  that,  when  a 
woman  brought  forth,  the  child  was  accounted  his  only,  who  firft  married  her.  D]o  and  Eujeh'iut 
teil  tnech  the  fame  ftory;  and  fo  ftrange  it  appeared  to  the  Romans,  that  Juiia  Dotnr.a^  Ss^'crus'a 
Emprefs,  ceproaclied  a  Bmi/h  lady  with  it,  as  a  way  of  living  infamous  in  the  vvon^n,  and  barba- 
rous in  the  men.  The  lady  having  obferved  what  paffcd  at  court,  brilkly  reply 'd  :  fVc  ds  that  fub- 
irxkly  iv\tb  the  bcfi  (f  our  men,  ivhlch  you  do  pri-vately  lu'ith  the  ivcrji  of  yours.  Sf'den  mentions  ano- 
ther odd  cuftom,  with  which  we  will  conclude  this  article  about  matrimony.  Upon  the  death  of 
any  great  uizn,  his  friends  made  diligent  enquiry  concerning  it.  If  any  of  the  friends  of  his  wife 
were  found  acc&flary  to  it,  they  proceeded  againft  them  with  fre  and  other  torments.  To  this  cuf- 
tom  It  is,  that  Ccie  refers  the  original  of  our  Engllfb  law,  that  orders  a  woman  who  has  killed  her 
hii&and  to  be /"JiTK^.'*     Magna  Br'it.\>.ii. 

(f)  Offiati,  voL  I.  p.  1 15.  {£)  Cs&r,  p.  89.  (£>)  Genefis,  xiv.  23,  &c.  &c. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  201 

compofed.((7)  Trowfers  were  equally  worn  by  the  Danmonians  and  the  Perfians.  The 
velture  of  tl:e  Druids  feems  to  correlponri  with  that  of  the  priefts  of  Iran,  or  the  prefent 
Sufi  of  India,  who  are  clad  in  woollen  gaiinents  or  mantles. (^)  The  Danmonian  loldiers 
appeared  naked  in  battle  ;  They  painted,  alfo,  their  bodies  for  the  fight,  and  wore  a  ring 
round  their  rriiddles.(<:) 

I  ftiall  make  one  obfervation  only  on  this  topic — which  is — that  we  are  too  apt  to  draw 
our  notioi^s  of  the  drefs  of  the  Britons  from  Csefar.  But  Csefar's  is  a  very  luperiicial 
notice  of  the  Britons,  in  this  particular  :  It  is  an  outline  fo  faint,  as  to  be  fcarce  diicern- 
able.  Ca;lar  could  i\ot  poflibly  have  been  fo  well  acquainted  with  the  Britons  as  Strabo, 
and  other  Greek  writers,  who  derived  the  moft  autlientic  infonnation  from  their  country- 
men, the  Greek  merchants  and  fettlers  on  the  coafts  of  Danmonium.  Britain,  or  rather 
Danmoniura,  was  known  to  the  Greeks,  long  before  the  invafion  of  Caefar.  Strabo  has 
more  paiticularly  delcribed  the  CafTiterides,  or  Devonfhire  and  Cornwall  and  the  Scilly- 
illes — a  part  of  Britain,  of  which  Csefar  was  ignorant. 

Of  their  domejiic  accommodation,  we  may  have  conceived  fome  idea,  from  the  ho-afe 
of  the  Danmonians  already  defcribed.  {d)  The  feats  of  our  chiefs  (like  thofe  of  the 
Highlanders)  were  furrounded  with  hills  and  hanging  woods,  and  thus  flieltered  from 
tlie  inclemency  of  the  weather.  Near  them  genei-ally  ran  a  large  ftream,  abounding  with 
lilh.  The  woods  were  ftocked  with  wild-fowl  j  and  the  downs  and  mountains  behind 
them  were  the  natural  feat  of  the  red  deer.  Nor  were  the  fides  of  the  hills  or  the  valljes 
unproductive  in  corn  or  herbage.  In  his  great  hall  I'at  (f)  the  Britifh  chief,  with  his 
children  and  guefts  around  him.  liftening  to  the  fong  and  the  harp  of  his  bards  or  daugh- 
ters, and  drinking  from  cups  of  fhell.(7^  The  hearth  of  the  Britons  feems  to  have  been 
fixed  in  the  centre  of  their  great  halls — as  in  fome  parts  of  Scotland  to  this  day.  That 
the  Britons  were  acquainted  with  coal,  is  evident,  among  other  proofs,  from  its  Brrtilh 
appellation,  which  fubfifts  among  the  Irifh  in  their  Gnal,  and  among  the  Cornifti  in  their 
Kolan  to  this  day.  And  peat,  the  moll  inflammable  of  all  fuel,  was  certainly  in  ufe 
among  the  Danmonii.  The  venifon  of  the  Britons  was  thus  prepared.  It  was  laid  upon 
a  bed  of  flaming  fern,  and  covered  with  a  layer  of  i'mooth  flat  ftones,  and  another  of  fern 
above  it.  C?)     The  fame  mode  of  cookery  was  praftiled  in  Ireland,  and  is  ftill  in  fome 

meafure 

(^7)  See  Sammes,  p.  117,  11?. 

{h)  We  are  told,  that  the  Britons  fuffered  their  beards  to  grow  to  a  confideraSle  length,  but  con- 
fined (as  among  the  Irifh j  to  the  upper  lip.     Ihe  Druids  hat',  doubtlefs,  veneiable  beards. 

(f)  Even  fo  late  as  the  battle  of  Killicranky,  the  Highlanders  threw  off  their  plaids  and  (hort  coats, 
and  fought  in  their  (hirts. 

(</)  "  Their  cottages  were  very  fnia!I,  and  thatched  with  ftraw.  What  then  ?  So  are  they  ftiU  In 
fever.il  places  of  Br'itam.  But  c\ir,  we  thence  conclude  with  a  late  learned  writer,  tlwt  defary  at  his 
landing,  found  not  jo  much  as  bKC  jhr.c  upon  ar'nbcr.  The  direct  contrary  to  this  afferdon  feems  to  be 
probable  from  fome  palTages  in  Ctejar  liimfelf,  who  gives  us  an  account  of  large  cities  and  long 
fieges.  We  think  it  paft  doubt,  thai  fome  of  thefe  cities,  at  lea(\  the  wails  of  them,  were  of  ftone. 
Why  ftiould  Britain  therefore,  which  exceeded  Caul  in  almoft  all  other  refpedls,  be  thought  to  come 
k>  very  fliort  of  it  in  this  ?  It  cannot  eanly  be  imagined  that  all  the  cities  in  Gaul,  mentioned  by 
Caefar,  were  built  by  the  Roman;.  We  will  therefore,  at  prefent,  fuppofe  theie  anciently  were  upon 
the  coafts  of  Britain  fome  goc'd  towns,  to  which  ftrangers  had  recourfe  to  buy  and  fell,  and  exchange 
wares  with  thofe  of  the  ifland/'     IVIag.  Brit.  p.  13. 

(e)  Their  manner  of  fitting  at  meat,  not  on  feats  or  benches,  but  upon  the  ground,  was  evidently 
oriental.  "  When  they  fat  at  meat,  it  was  not  upon  ft  ats  or  benches,  but  upon  the  ground ;  whereon, 
inflead  of  carpets,  they  fpread  the  (kins  of  wolves,  or  dogs.  The  guefts  all  of  them  fat  round  about, 
and  the  food  was  placed  before  them,  and  every  one  took  his  part ;  they  v/ere  waited  upon  by  the 
younger  people  of  both  fexes.  Such  as  had  not  Ikins  were  content  with  a  little  hay  or  ftraw,  which 
was  laid  under  them."     Strutt.  vol.  i,  p.  2S8. 

(f)  OfTian,  vol.  i.  p.  72,  240,  16,  and  27,  and  Pegge's  Coins  of  Cunobellne,  4—1  and  3.  The 
cullom  of  pledging  each  other  amidft  their  cups,  and  the  order  obferved  in  drinking,  were  fimilar  in 
Danmonium  and  Arabia.  In  the  "  Arabian  Nights,"  "  Amine  filled  out  wine,  and  drank  ^r/?  her- 
Jelfy  according  to  the  cuftom  of  the  Arabians,  then  Ihe  filled  it  to  her  guefts."(i) 

(g)  See  OlTian,  vol.  1.  p.  15. 

(«)  See  Arabian  Nights,  vol.  i.  p.  134.  This  is  the  prefent  mode  of  drinking  in  Dcvonfcirf,  ajnorg  the  lower  orde« 
ef  (be  people. 

Vol.  I.  C  c  a 


202  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    of   DEVONSHIRE. 

meafure  retained  b)'  the  prefent  Highlanders  in  their  hunting  parties,  (a)  Of  our  indi- 
genous birds,  for  the  provifion  of  the  Danmonian  tables,  the  chc?iercs  (probably  the 
goofander)  was  efteemed  a  dainty  :  As  fiich  the  Romans  prized  it.  Mr.  Whitaker  thinks, 
that  the  domellic  pigeon  was  introduced  into  Britain  by  the  Romans.  But,  I  conceive, 
it  was  prior  to  the  Romans,  for  the  very  reaion  he  has  given  in  fupport  of  his  idea.  (A) 
The  cock  of  the  wood  was  known  in  the  foreit  of  Dartmoor  j  but,  as  our  woods  dimi- 
niflied,  it  retreated  from  the  fouth-well,  and  gradually  from  South  Britain,  into  the  High- 
lands of  Scotland,  and  into  Ireland — where  it  is  now  rare,  and,  probably,  will  be  foon 
extinct. (f)  In  their  abllinence  from  particular  meats,  the  Danmonians  certainly  refem- 
bled  the  Hebrews  and  many  of  the  eaftern  nations.  It  does  not  appear,  that  the  Romans 
or  any  other  European  people,  had  ever  any  exception  of  this  fort  to  certain  animals. 
The  hare,  as  Ccclkr  and  other  authors  inform  us,  was  one  animal  from  which  the  Britona 
(^)  abilained  :  And  the  hare  was  prohibited  to  the  Hebrews,  (e)  The  Romans,  in  the 
mean  time,  efteemed  the  hare  a  great  delicacy  ;  and,  in  this  illand,  lecured  the  luxury  to 
themfelves.  The  eating  of  geefe  and  of  hens  was,  aifo,  prohibited  by  the  Druids ;  flnce 
thefe  birds  were  confecrated  to  religion,  (f)  Even  now  the  common  people,  both  in 
Devonlhire  and  Cornwall  (but  particularly  in  this  county)  have  an  averijon  to  the  hare, 
and  to  moll  kinds  of  poultry — which  they  rejeft  under  the  general  .appellation  of  hoUo^u 
fonx'l.  The  abllinence  of  the  Danmonians  from  fi!h,  mull  have  originated  in  the  lame 
principle  of  religion  ;  fmce  the  very  rivers  and  the  fea  were  deified.  The  fcaly  inhabit- 
ants, therefore,  of  the  rivers  and  the  fea,  would  naturally  be  confidered  as  the  little  naids 
of  both,  and  as  fliaring  a  part  of  their  divinity.  In  the  interior  parts  of  the  Highlands, 
the  fij})  of  their  brooks  and  lakes  are  feldom  eaten  by  the  natives,  to  this  day.  (^^  Thele 
prohibitions,  with  refpeft  to  meats,  have  been  often  mentioned  :  But  the  abftnience  of 
the  Britilh  failors,  recorded  by  Solinus,  feems  to  have  been  overlooked.  Suantocunque 
tempore  curfus  tenebant,  ut  author  ejl  Solinus,  ?m-viga/2tesy  ej'c'ts  ahjUnent.^h)    This  reminds 

me 

{a)  As  to  the  diet  of  the  HighlanHef;,  there  is  one  very  remaikable  particular,  that  occurs  in 
Birt's  Letters,  (vol.  z.  p.  121.)  In  the  interior  parts  of  the  Highland-,  it  feems,  the  lower  ranks  of 
people  fubfift  on  a  little  oatmeal,  milk,  and  hkod  dtaivn  frcm  their  ll'ving  cattle.  The  Abyffinians, 
then,  are  not  fingular  in  draii'irjg  blood  from  their  ifvivg  cattle!  The  Cornifti  (and  the  Devonians  in 
fome  parts  of  Devon)  bake  the  blood  of  animals, 

{b)  "  The  domeRic  pigeon  was  once  equally  a  flranger  to  Afia  and  Britain,  andbefpeaks  its  in- 
troducers  into  the  latter,  by  the  name  of  khmwcn^  wiiich  it  bears  in  the  Wehh  ;  of  tylobman  and 
ko'om  in  the  Cornilh,  and  kalTi  or  kolm  in  the  Irilh  and  Armorick.'  Thus  Mr.  Whitaker,  But 
columba  was  derived  from  the  Britifh  words. 

[c)  Our  orig'nal  ifland  birds  (according  to  Mr.  Whitaker)  were  the  duck,  teal,  widgeon,  fwan, 
crane,  flork,  buftard,  (i)  capercalze,  co;k  of  the  wood,  woodcock,  quail,  fnipe,  (2)  heathcock,  lark| 
flockdove. — Several  of  thefe  are  extiaft  in  the  ifland,  and  others  not  exiting  in  Devonftiire. 

{d)  The  Danmonians  kept  hares  about  the  courts  of  their  chiefs. 

(e)  "  They  looked  upon  it  as  a  crime  to  eat  either  hare,  hen  or  goofe,  which  however,  Cafar  affures 
us,  they  kept  for  their  pleafure.  Nay  Plwy  affirms,  th^t  the  rheverota,  which  are  of  the  fame  fpecies 
with  gerfc,  were  looked  upon  as  the  choicef^  meat  in  Britain.  They  were  very  fparing  in  their  diet, 
according  to  Dio:{crus,  which  both  he  and  Cafar  affirm  to  have  beep  ufually  either  venifoii,  or  fruits 
or  milk.  Strabo  fays,  they  knew  not  how  to  make  cheefe  ;  but  that  cannot  be  altogether  true,  for  it 
will  not  eafily  be  allowed  that  all  of  them,  efpecially  thofe  that  dealt  with  the  Phcenicians,  were 
ignorant  of  fo  common  a  piece  of  ikill.  Dion  affures  us  they  tilled  no  ground  :  But  he  too  muft  be 
underftood  with  refiridion ;  for  Pliny  alTures  us,  they  manur'd  their  ground  with  marl  inftead  of 
dung,  which  argues  no  fuch  ignorance  in  hufbandry  as  Strabo  and  Dion  charge  upon  them.  Their 
drink  was  ufually  made  of  barley,  as  Sc/iirus  hath  informed  u?.  We  (hall  only  farther  obferve,  that 
this  diftindtiou  of  me.its,  their  making  fome  lawful,  others  unlawful,  in  Mr.  Scldat's  opinion,  rehfh'd 
fomewhat  of  thejirws,  and  was  rarely  praftifed  by  any  but  eaftern  nations,  fuch  a%Phcenicia,Egyf>t.t 
Syria,  &c.  who  had  converfed  with  the  Jezvs.  So  Dion  tells  us,  the  antient  Britaim  fymbolized 
with  the  Syrians  in  refufing  to  eat  fifli."     Magn.  Brit.  p.  12. 

(f)  The  Danmonians  had  their  domeftic  cock ;  though  not  for  the  purpofe  of  food.  See  RicbarJy 
p.  5 — and  Sammes,  p.  109. 

ig)  Birt's  Letters,  vol.2,  p.  121.  {b)  Ricard,  p.  5. 

(i)  The  capercalze  was  common  to  all  t:  ifland  ;  but  from  its  feeding  on  the  tender  tops  of  fir-branches,  and  loving 
high  ami  folitary  mountains  and  woods,  it  has  ndw  for  ages  been  peculiar  to  the  Highlands. 

(2)  "  The  healhcotk's  head  is  beneath  his  wing.  The  hind  flecps  with  the  hart  of  the  defart.  They  Ciall  rife  with 
tncrning's  light,  and  feed  by  the  aioffy  dream  —but  Biy  tears  return  with  the  fun.  My  fighs  come  on  with  the  night  !"■»- 
Offiun,  vtJ.  J.  E.  378, 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  2oj 

me  of  the  abft'mence  of  the  failors  noticed  in  St.  Paul's  voyage  to  Rome,  (a)  The  provi- 
ding (If)  of  bread  for  every  family  among  the  Danmoniaiis,  was  the  province  of  the 
women  :  And  the  bread  was  baked  upon  fiones,{c)  which  theWelih  denominate  GreuiiolSf 
and  we  Grcdles.  In  the  fame  manner,  we  find  in  fcripture  mention  of  bread  baked 
among  the  cilhes.  Sarah  made  cakes  upon  the  hearth,  when  the  three  men  came  to  fee 
Abraham.  (^  This  cuilom  is  retained  by  the  Arabs.  Dr.  Leonhart  Ranwolffs  informs 
us,  that  "  in  the  tent  where  he  was  entertained,  the  Arabs  made  a  palle  of  flour  an  J 
water,  and  wrought  it  into  broad  cakes,  about  the  thicknefs  of  a  finger,  and  put  them 
in  a  hot  place  on  the  ground,  heated  on  purpofe  by  fire,  and  covered  it  with  aihes  ;md 
coals,  and  turned  it  leveral  times  until  it  was  enough.  Some  of  the  Arabians  have  ia 
their  tents  (fays  he)  ftones  or  ccpper-plates  made  on  purpofe  to  bake  their  bread."  The 
(f)  luxury  of  cheefes  is  laid  to  have  been  unknown  to  the  Danmonians.  But  the  Dan- 
monlans  made  curds  and  butter  of  their  milk  from  the  earlielt  times — denfantes  in  acorem 
jucundum  et  -pingue  buiyrii?n,  fays  Pliny,  (f)  And,  indeed,  the  art  of  making  curds  and 
batter  was  not  a  European  art :  The  Romans,  we  ihall  fee,  were  ignorant  of  it.  As  Pliny 
defcribes  the  Danmonians,  fo  Herodotus  {g)  defcribes  the  Scjtkians  as  famous  for  their 
curds  and  butter :  And  it  is  remarkable,  that  the  jlur-cura  (or  the  acor  jucundas)  is 
familiar  only  at  the  prelent  day,  to  the  Tartars  and  the  Lornijh  and  a  few  of  the  Dc--vo- 
r/uins.{h)  Water,  milk,  or  metheglin,  \vere  the  common  liquors  of  the  Danmonians. 
But  on  feftal  days,  their  drink  was  cur  mi,  (i)  the  cur-M  of  the  Wellh,  and  the  ale  of  the 
Englifli.  This  liquor  was  made  in  JEgypt  immediately  after  the  dilpedion,  as  a  fubfti- 
tute  for  the  juice  of  the  grape,  to  which  that  countn.'  was  unfavourable.  And,  the  Abo- 
rigines of  Danmon:um,  finding  the  fame  defeft  in  this  countrj',  fupplied  it  in  the  fame 
ma-.nier.  There  are  fome,  indeed,  of  opinion,  that  the  Danmonians  planted  vineyards 
and  orchards  in  very  early  times  j  and  that  they  uled,  as  their  principal  liquors,  the  fer- 
mented juice  both  of  the  grape  and  of  the  apple  :  But,  though  perhaps  the  vallies  of 
Danmsnium  were  fufficiently  funny  for  the  grape,  yet  our  climate  muft  have  been  al- 
ways too  variable  for  the  regular  produce  of  it.  Cyder,  pofTibly,  was  draivk  by  the  fiiH 
Danmonians ;  fince  the  orchards  of  Devonlhire  were  very  ancient. (1)  The  Danmonians, 
whatever  might  have  been  their  uf'ial  liquors,  feem  to  have  poireiTed  the  fecret  of  quench- 
ing their  thirlt  in  a  very  fingular  manner:  But  the  ingredients  of  the  compofition  to 
which  I  allude,  we  fliould  vainly  attempt  to  dilcover.  (/)  The  Arabs  ufe  gums  for  this 
purpofe,  in  their  paflage  over  their  fultry  defarts.  And  this  expedient  of  the  Danmo- 
nians to  quench  third,  feems  to  have  originated  amidit  the  burning  lands  of  the  wafte, 
where  they  might  look  around  them  Avith  wilhful  eyes,  for  refrefliment  from  the  fountaia 

llream  j 

{a)   At^s,  c.  27,  V.  33. 

(/;}  Tiie  Britons  were  well  ncquainted  with  t'le  ufe  of  haml-muli  before  their  fubmifTion  to  tlie 
Rom.ins  j  and  thefe  miJli  were  dillinguifhed  by  the  name  of  quems,  cames  or  rtones.     Whitaker. 

(.-)  1.S  the  cuflom  oi  bakhg  hicjd  upon  the  hearth,  undo  a  kettl:^  known  any  wl.tre  but  in  Devon 
and  Cornwall  ?    Is  not  this  a  relic  of  the  ancient  mode  of  baking  ? 

[d)  Genefis,  c.  18. 

(f)  The  crook  was  probably  of  very  ancient  date  in  DevonnilrC.  It  confifts  of  two  long  poles, 
yeneraliy,  I  believe,  afticn,  which,  affixed  to  a  pack-faddJe,  and  branching  off  on  each  fide  to 
fome  diilaPice,  are  tiien  bent  upwards  ;  fo  that  by  means  of  the  curvature,  they  become  (when 
ilung  on  the  backs  of  horfes)  the  receptacle  of  various  articles  in  hulb  ndry,  longitudinally  placed 
on  them.  Thus  bdTidles  cf  hay  and  faggots,  or  Hicaves  of  corn,  are  heaped  up,  witliin  the  curva- 
^rc,  to  a  coniiderdble  height.  For  corn-carrying,  thefe  crooks  are  particularly  convenient.  They 
^re  very  common  in  this  county,  but  occur  no  where  befides  in  England.  But  what  Inclines  me  to 
think  them  of  grerit  antiquity,  is,  that  they  are  Aill  to  be  feen  in  the  Higlilands  of  Scotland :  And 
tlifr  Highland  crooks  are  cunlVufted  in  the  fame  manner  as  ilie  Devonian. 

ff)  lib.  xi.  c.  41.  {g)  lib.  iv. 

(i>)  The  ufe  of  butter  was  certainly  ahirlgbial  in  this  ifland :  The  Romans  were  unacquainted 
with  it.     See  Mufgrave's  Antiou.  Brit.  Belg.  vol.  i.  p.  47,  4S. 

(/)  The  South-Britons  had  long  ufed  tiie  fpume  which  arofe  on  the  furface  of  their  curml  in  fer- 
mentation, for  rendering  their  bread  light.  This  the  Wellh  and  the  Cornifh  denominate  burnt,  evi- 
dently derived  from  cuimi.  And  the  common  people  of  Devon  call  yeaft  by  the  name  cf  barm  to 
this  day.     See  Sammes,  p.  ic8,  109. 

{k)  See  Wolridge's  Vinetum  Britannicum,  p.  i3.    (Lond.  edit.  1676.) 

(/)  "  But  I  cannot  imagine,  what  meat  that  fliould  be  which  D'w  faies  they  preferved  on  all  occa- 
Jons,  whereof,  if  they  eat  but  the  quantity  of  ^  bean,  it  fatisfied  their  hunger  and  thirft."  Sammes, 
p.  lie. 


TO4  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    o?    DEVOKSHIRE- 

frtam :  It  is  an  esqx&at,  winch  by  no  meaos  accorded  tn&  the  fitoatiQa  of  the  vc^ern 
Bkitons,  amidft  innnmar^ble  fprii^  and  mers.(«)^ 

For  their  accoimnodarion  hf  n^ht,  the  Damnoeiians  had  a  donnitosj  mmmnn  to  the 
tchole  Eonily,  boch  males  and  faaaales.(&) 

IT  we  poarfiie  the  Damnonians  from  their  habitatioBK  to  the  SsM,  ice  SaM  fee  them 
dusfiy  occupied  by  manlr  exerciies.  Their  pnndpal  j^cttf  Ibcin  to  hare  been  fanntii^ 
Ibi^ng,  die  booting  of  wild  beafis,  and  wrcftung  and  hailing.  Himtit^  and  foiHxi^  at 
firfi.  neceflaij  to  the  fiiUiftenoe  of  oor  colonifls,  vere  afterwards  cootinQed  as  mere  diver^ 
ions.  And  our  woods  were  liifficiently  fiodced  widi  bears  and  (r)  boars  and  wohres, 
for  the  cbace :  The  wild  baU  was,  alio,  roaming  at  larg^  {J)  N<»-  was  dse  led  deer 
]e&  fret^uent ;  wliilft  the  fe^  now  loft  in  Bntain  and  in  Europe,  bat  fabfiftiag  in  the 
moofe  oi  Amexica,  was  of%en  hunted  in  the  farefts  of  Drvonfiure.  (^)  The  dogs  which 
die  BritoDS  empk>jed  ia  the  chace,  are  well  defcribed  by  Btlr.  ^^litaker.  According  to 
ttiic  gentleman,  these  were  five  ordinal  Britilh  dogs  i  ^se  great  booflidld  dog,  the  grer- 
Boood,  the  bull  dog,  the  tenier,  and  tihe  large  flow  hoond.  The  bft  menttoned  breed 
is,  at  prd^ot,  aInK]&  pecoBar  to  Xiancfaeflcr.  But  near  the  dofe  of  the  laf:  century  h 
was  frequent  in  the  Iboth-wdK.  It  is  called  at  Manckefier  tte  foothcm  hoond^  Tliis 
hoiBMlkni^  *i^  ^^'^  as  it  is,  was  once  coofideiably  larger  and  flower.  The  boar,  tibe 
wolf,  and  the  fta^  were  all  too  fleet  for  its  modons.  Its  genuine  obje^,  diexefore,  moft 
bave  been  focae  animal  as  heary  and  flow  ^  idelf.  And  that  could  hare  been  lady  the 
BntHh  fegh  or  moofe.  Whoi,  titerefore,  the  fegh  inh^itBd  the  focefts  <^  Deroo,  the 
l^i-df^  employed  in  Ae  purfnit  of  diis  enonnoos  animal,  was  the  favoiite  oompanian 
of  the  Danmonian  hunter.  ^ 

Of  the  t^rds  dot  fumifflied  amnianent  to  the  Danmosua  Qtortfinan,  perhaps  the  ca^ 
was  not  qn&ciiiKiitly  porfoed  finom  height  to  hd^it.  Whilft  our  woods  were  deep  anS 
OEtaofire  eoou^  to  amvd  covert  to  the  easle,  diis  bird  was,  undoabtedly,  an  inhabitant 
o£  Devonlhire  and  Cornwall.  It  hath  leh  its  name,  indeed,  in  KsH^rar,  ti»e  gn'v^ 
tfe^kr-.  WlKnce  we  may  prefome,  that  it  was  once  an  ismate-of  the  place.  The 
ea^  wa«[fhot,  I  fi^pofe,  with  arrows.  But  die  Danmonians  were  piincyaDy  food  of 
hawkin<r  or  Blconry.  Every  BiitxSi  chieftain  maintained  a  number  of  birds  for  the 
fooct.  ^Offian  meiitioas  *'  a  hundred  hawks  with  fluttering  wing,  that  fly  acrofe  ^ 
&y."V  There  is  a  curious  paflage  in  Pliny,  where  this  dnrcxiiao  i>  deicxibcd.  **  £r 
Jirmcir  MrSe  ff^f  JMBf-bifaSm,  hmimet  mtfte  mtdf^itres  Jtrittmte  ^mmJmm  mmaiftaamr: 
H  £x  fytms  it  imrmmSmelis  exr^mmt  «««r;   iS,  faftrsuLata,  depfvmmmt^  rmrfiu  tmftms 

jit  ca^tsr^i  eisx^rg  et  •solstMS  gewerg  UFSttsre  mi  9ccm/Smrm.^'  (j)     The  Thcadans  and 

tnc 

'a\  "W!:€^?:€r  say  cf  ihefe  lyings  or  mers  wtre  coanrertsd  1^  Ac  Aborighies,  to  the  pBpofes  cf 
latiitTr  or  txx,  i?  a  qoeftion  whidi  I  hare  exaauned  ia  tfee  aest  chq«a;  where  the  Rnm«i  hMte, 
f[f.f%wJmwt.  in  this  iitaai!,  caqnot  be  left  nninorirrd. 

m  See  Gcnefis,  c  x&x.  agnd  Beda,  L  3.  c  27.  and  Ginldas,  pw  SSS.  lor  die  ombbsb  Wddi  bar. 
ktgtbeir  beds  upon  die  g^oaai,  and  for  die  Wcfch  »j  BE^fafanders  lyii^  aD  in  one  apa;tment. 
(tX  The  t^^r  moaiDed  in  onr  woods,  fevenl  cenDones  after  die  woKL 

r/t  Oarwoads  biedanmibcrof  inU  boBs.  Tbe  «rald  bnlb  and  cows  were  aD  milk  wbite^ 
aB  fOTttflied  widi  thi«*  bai^JBg  naiies  Ete  Boos,  and  almoft  as  ftrage  as  th^.  BoaS  ScocRqr. 
IMc.  foL  6.  and  Leflzi  Bift.  p.  xS.— The  bds  of  Anpas,  in  the  zgA  U/ttma  of  Tbeoakns,  an. 

fstr  very  w^  to  diis  de&riplian  :  ^  

^.^..._  i^uiff^  bonnred  wnce-lEQ^d  boDs  were  ico, 
(CmlM  dieir  finoocb  boras)  two  bundled  ^o^-ied  ; 
Wbile.  £h«r«s  Ibe  fwan,  in  fsuibols  ran 
TwtJTC,  cbief  ofd,  and  &aed  to  the  fim ! 
Tbcie,  in  tbe  flowoy  poAoRs  kept  apai^ 
Rcfli  OB  tbe  ■wBMaiB  beaBs  tbac^  6e^oen^  oait 
Frocn  tbeir  deep  tfas^oecs  on  tbe  bcid  bdow  j 
Bclbmiae  gjhooc dea«K  ■«*  S"«  d>e *hJi^  fee!      ^ 
(e\  IttiniMiC  bonis  of  a  moft  eoonncns  fiae,  bare  been  £ckumI  n  Deronfliire  (and  odier  ports  e( 
{jwjbod,  »dbi.lRl»d,dfe)  tber^scsof  tUsenonaoBsiaccaf  deer.  See^iet.  H^  rf Dtmia^^irr. 
(/jSteHULtdMaadielttttX^z.  p-r^*    Shal[%evc*sdefai(«ioBcf  de((]ntbemlio«Bd,aiiift 
tcadily  occur  10  mj  readers* 
(j)  Pbnx»Lx.c.S. 


The     BR  III  SH     PERIOD.  205 

the  Britons,  according  to  Mr.  Wlutaker's  account,  ivere  the  only  foUo-ivers  of  th£  Jhori. 
Among  the  tbrmer,  it  was  purfued  merely  in  a  particular  dillrift  of  the  countn-  :  But* 
with  the  latter,  it  I'eems  to  have  been  univenal  among  the  barons.  (^)  And  hawkint- 
reraained  the  tavorite  recreation  of  oar  gentlemen  for  manv  as^s.  It  exiils,  at  ortfent* 
only  in  the  Higldands.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Gauis,  from  whom  Mr.  Whitaker  deduces 
©or  origin,  knew  nothing  of  hiwking  :  They  had,  probably,  never  he.-ird  of  it.  Nor  was 
it  a  Iport  of  the  European  nations.  The  Aliatics,  however,  from  whom  I  have  deduced 
our  origin,  were  univerfaily  fond  of  thii  diverfion.  In  Pilpay,  and  other  e.iltern  writers 
h.i'.vkiag  is  often  defcribed.  ''  It  happened  (lays  Pilpay)  one  day,  that  Humaiun  Fal 
went  out  a  hunting.  The  towering  hawk,  like  the  arrow  dilcharged  from  the  bow  of 
the  archer,  directs  his  flight  to  the  height  oi  heaven.  And  the  falcon,  bountitul  to  the 
huagr}-,  with  bloody  talons  tears  the  veins  from  the  throats  of  the  bin;ls."(i>)  The  Ara- 
bians, to  tnis  day,  hunt  the  rock-goat  with  the  falcon.  (<■)  FaJconrj',  then,  of  which 
the  Europeans,  in  general,  had  no  idea,  was  familiar  to  the  Afiatics  -.  And  it  was  the 
favorite  amulement  of  the  Daumonians.  That,  "  it  was  imported,  therefore,  into  this 
country  fron\  the  eall,^'  is  a  necellary  conclukon.  And,  granting  this,  who  dares  pro- 
nounce our  theor\'  improbable  ?  •'  An  eallern  colonization,  independent  of  Europe," 
teems  forcibly  preil  upon  us,  from  every  quarter.  And,  for  the  prelent  topic,  I  can- 
not but  remai  k,  that  our  love  of  hawking,  notwithl^yding  the  inconveniencies  of  innu- 
merable hills  and  vallies  ill  adapted  for  tlie  fport,  ibongly  fpeaks  our  defcent  from  the 
<alltrn  nations,  whole  fine  campaign  covmtries  may  be  ranged  by  the  falconer  without 
interruption  and  with  little  danger.  Among  the  fports  of  Danmon'ium,  I  have  mentioned 
the  baitings  of  wild  anunals — a  diverlicu  that  well  accords  with  the  tempei-  o(  a  people 
jull  emerged  from  h.ubarilin  :  And  the  amphitheatres  of  Danmonium,  lecm  to  liave  been 
occafijnsliy  uied  for  this  purpoie.  But  wreltling  and  hurhng  were  the  Iports,  that  jnore 
peculiarly  cl^araderized  the  Danmonians.  '♦  Among  the  general  culloms  (fays  (./)Borlafe) 
we  mult  not  forget  the  manly  exerci'.es  of  wrellling  and  hurlini^;  the  former  more 
generally  pracliied  in  this  county  tlun  in  any  part  of  England,  the  latter  peculiar  to 

it. 

{a)  In  the  eftabllfhment  of  the  Britiih  court,  we  fee  the  ctjd  :f  the  Falconfrs  ranked  amonr 
the  jrcat  officen.  of  rtate.  Howei  Dha.  ].  i.  c.  i.  and  Florence  of  WorceiUr,  p.  623,  Frankfort 
edit. — At  this  day,  the  Dukes  of  St.  Albans  and  Ancailtr,  are  hcrediury  Chamberlain  and  Fal.cacr 
lo  the  Kinj:  oi  Fngland. 

{h)  See  the  introdu^ory-  chapter  to  the  Anvar  e  Soheili,  or  Fables  of  Pilpay— tranflated  from 
the  Perfian  by  R.  LlewtHyn.  And  fee  Pi-'iaj's  F^iflij^  4ih  edit.  Lomfon  printed  for  J.  Rivington, 
1766,  p.  32,  15:,  15-,,  154. 

(.-)  See  Dr.  HaiTelquilt  s  travels. 

(J)  Nat.  Hi(\.  p.  279,  3CC.  Cj'rw  is  more  mmute  in  his  defcriptbn  of  thefe  manly  exercifes. 
Sec  ferKJ  tf  Hcr.ry  the  S.'i,  where  I  have  adverted  to  Carew's  defcriptio;^.  In  his  remarks  on  the 
ftory  of  Corintus,  we  perctivc  his  notion  of  the  Dann.onian  wieillirg.  ♦'  I  am  not  ignorant  ifays 
Carew)  how  fordy  the  whole  rtorie  of  Britte,  is  fh^ken  by  feme  of  our  late  writers,  and  how 
ftitTely  lupported  by  other  lome  :  as  .ilfo  that  this  wrastiisg  pi-ll  bcrwcen  Cr/r-^-aj  and  Gc7- 
ta^gig,  is  reported  to  have  befallen  at  Dover.  For  mine  owne  part,  though  I  reverence  antiquiiie, 
and  reckon  it  a  kind  of  wrong,  to  exa(ft  an  ever-rtrid^  reafon  for  all  that  which  upon  crcdite  fhce  dcli- 
vereth;  yet  I  rather  incline  to  their  llde,  who  would  warrant  her  authentic  by  apparent  veritie.  Not- 
withftandiijg,  in  this  qucftion,  I  will  not  take  on  me  the  perfon  of  either  judge,  or  rtickl<rr-.  And 
therefore,  if  there  hee  any  plunged  in  the  common  floud,  as  they  will  Aill  "gripe  fart,  what  they 
have  once  caught  hold  on,  let  them  fport  themfelvts  with  thefe  conjeflures,  upon  which  mine  aver- 
ment in  behalf  of  I'lyrr.rr.:u:b  is  grounded.  The  pUce  wheje  Br::c  is  faid  to  bave  fint  landed,  was 
Tttr.ii  in  drnivjH,  and  therefore  this  wraflling  likely  to  have  chaunced  tlicre  fooner  than  elfewhere. 
The  province  beitowed  upon  Cc^l-:ius  for  this  exploit,  was  C^'r-ij.;.  It  may  then  be  prefumerf, 
<h.-tt  he  receive*!  in  rcvrard  the  place  where  hee  made  proof  of  his  worth,  and  wimfe  prince  (for  fo 
%vith  otheri  I  ii)^tC:gr:ag:g  to  have  beene)  hee  had  conquered,  even  as  Cyrtj  recompenced  Z.'-i  us 
with  the  citie  Bahyhr,  wiiich  his  policie  had  recovered.  Againc,  the  adivitie  of  Devon  and  Cor- 
Blfhmen,  in  thit  facultie  of  wraftling,  beyond  thofe  of  other  ihircs,  doth  feemc  to  derive  them  « 
fpcciall  pedigree,  from  their  graund  wrartler  Ccr:ncus.  Moreover,  upon  the  H.me,  at  Plxnnt-uib, 
there  is  cut  out  in  the  ground,  the  pourtrayture  of  two  men,  the  one  bi^jger,  the  other  lelier,  with 
clubbes  in  tficir  hands,  whom  they  terme  G:gv:,:g:g  -.  And  (as  I  have  learned)  it  is  renewed  by  order 
olthe  cownefnien,  when  caufe  requireth— which  fhould  infcrre  the  fame  to  bee  a  monument  of 
fome  nioment.  Atid  laiUy,  the  place  having  a  fteeps  cliff  adjoyning,  affordeth  an  oppoitunitis  10 
the  faft."    Survey  of  Cornwall,  p.  2,  *^ 


2o6  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   of   DEVONSHIRE. 

it.(^)  The  Cornifli  have  been  remarkable  for  their  expertnefs  in  athletary  contentions 
for  manj'  ages,  as  if  they  inherited  the  Ikill  and  ftrength  of  the  firil  Duke  Corinasus, 
whofe  fame  confills  chiefly  in  the  reputation  he  won  by  wrelUing  with,  and  over- 
comino-  the  2;iaiit  Gogmagog — a  fable  perhaps  founded  five  hundred  years  fmce  upon 
the  tt^n  acknowledged  anti  univerfal  reputation  of  the  people  of  this  county  for 
wreftlino-.  But  to  leave  fables ;  what  (hould  have  implanted  il-\is  cuftom  in  fuch  a  corner 
of  Britam,  and  preftrved  it  hitherto  in  its  full  vigour,  when  either  never  affected  at  all, 
or  with  indifference  in  other  parts  of  the  likuid,  we  cannot  lay  :  Certain  it  is  the  Grecians, 
who  traded  hither  for  tin,  and  hither  only,  had  the  higheft  elLeem  for  this  exerciie.  The 
arts  of  the  Falajira  were  chiefly  cultivated  by  the  Lacedemonians  :  And  yet  Plato  himfelf 
among  die  Athenians  was  ib  far  from  difapproving  the  exercif'e,  that  he  recommends  it 
to  the  praclice  of  old  as  well  as  young  women,  and  thinks  it  proper  for  them  oftentimes 
to  w-reltle  with  men,  that  thereby  they  might  become  more  patient  of  labor,  and  learn 
to  Itruo-^le  with  the  difficulties  incident  to  a  warlike  ftate.  I'he  ardor  for  this  exerciie 
fo  prevailed  at  lall,  that  all  Greece  devoted  their  time  and  inclinations  to  the  Gj?nfiaf,a 
and  PaUfra,  and  chofe  rather  to  be  accounted  the  moft  expert  wr^ftlers,  than  to  be 
celebrated  as  the  moft  knowing  and  valiant  commanders. (A)  Whether  the  Cornillx  bor- 
rowed this  cuftom  from  the  Gregians,  or  whatever  elfe  was  the  caufe,  you  Oiall  hardly 
any  where  meet  with  a  party  of  boys  who  will  not  readily  entert;dn  you  with  a  fpecimen 
of  tlieir  Ikill  in  this  profeflion.  Hurling  is  a  trial  of  fkill  and  aftivity  between  two  par- 
ties of  twenty,  forty,  or  any  intermediate  number  ;  fometimes  betwixt  two  or  more 
parifhes,  but  more  ulually,  and  indeed  practifed  in  a  more  friendly  manner,  betwixt  thole 
of  the  fame  parifh  ;  for  the  better  underilanding  which  diftindion,  it  mull  be  premifed, 
that  betwixt  thofe  of  the  lame  parifli  there  is  a  natural  connexion  luppofed,  from  which 
(cceteris  paribus)  no  one  member  can  depart  without  forfeiting  all  efteem.  As  this  unites 
the  inhabitants  of  a  parifli,  each  parifh  looks  upon  itfelf  as  obliged  to  contend  for  its  own 
fame,  and  oppofe  the  preteniions,  and  fuperiority  of  its  neighbours.  It  is  i^o  termed  from 
throwing  or  /jurliKg  a  ball,  which  is  a  round  piece  of  timber,  (about  three  inches  diame- 
ter) cov'ered  witli'  plated  filver,  fometimes  gilt.  It  has  ufually  a  niotto  in  the  Cornifh 
tono-ue  alluding  to  the  paftime,  as  Guare  nvheng,  yav  Guare  teag,  that  is,  fair  play  is  good 
flay.  Upon  catching  this  ball  dexteroufly  when  it  is  dealt,  and  carrying  it  off  expedi. 
tiouily,  notwlthlianding  all  the  oppofition  of  the  adverfe  party,  fuccefs  depends.  This 
exerciie  requires  force  and  nimblenefs  of  hand,  a  quick  eye,  fwiftuefs  of  foot,  fkill  in 
wrelUing,  ftrength  and  breath  to  prelerve  in  running,  addreis  to  deceive  and  evade  the 
enemy,  and  judgment  to  deliver  the  ball  into  proper  hands,  as  occafion  fliall  offer  :  in 
fhort,  a  paitime  that  kindles  emulation  in  the  youngefl  breaft,  and  like  this  requires  fo 
general  an  exertion  of  all  the  faculties  of  the  body,  cannot  but  be  of  great  ufe  to  fupple, 
ftrengthen,  and  pai-ticularly  tend  to  prepaie  it  for  all  the  exercifes  of  the  camp." 

From  thofe  vi"-orous  exercifes  of  the  Danmonians,  the  tranfition  is  eafy  to  their  more 
ferious  contelh  on  the  field  of  battle  ;  where  we  may  curforily  furvey  their  warlike  appa- 
ratus. The  Danmonian  foot  are  reprefented  as  remarkably  fwift ;  and  never  encumbered 
■with  armour,  from  which  they  could  not  eafiiy  difengage  themfelves.  (<:)  The  Danmo- 
nian chief  was  accuftomed  to  communicate  his  inftruttions  to  his  ioldiers,  by  the  ftriking 
of  a  fpear  againft  his  fliield.  Cathmor's  fliield  had  feven  principal  boffes,  the  found  of 
each  of  which,  when  flruck  with  a  fpear,  conveyed  a  particular  order  from  the  king  to 
his  tribes,  "  He  ftruck  that  nuanmig  bofs,  wherein  dwelt  the  voice  of  war."  On  their 
cavalry  the  Danmonians  prided  themfelves  :  And  the  Britons,  in  general,  were  famous 
for  their  Ikill  in  horfemanfhip.  Julius  Cscfar  found  the  Britons  plentifully  provided  with 
borfes :   And  thefe  horfes  were  fo  well  difciplined  as  to  excite  both  the  terror  and  the 

admiration 

(a)  Borlafe,  fpeal<lng  in  this  manner  of  Cornwall,  means  Danmonlum,  or  Devorphe  and  Cornwall. 
The  old  topographers  generally  include  the  both  counties  onder  the  appellation  of  Cornwall.  With 
lefped  to  ivreftlivg  and  hurling,  they  were,  undoubtedly,  as  common  in  former  times,  on  the  eaft 
as  on  the  weft  fide  of  the  Tamar. 

(b)  Alex,  ab  Alexandre,  lib.  ii.  vol.  i.  page  494. 

(c)  "  The  Britains  were  very  fwift,  neither  did  they  encumber  themfelves  with  any  armour,  which 
they  could  not  at  pleafure  fling  away.  They  had  a  fhieid  and  a  fhort  fpear,  in  the  nether  part 
whereof  hung  a  bell,  by  the  fhaking  of  which  they  thought  to  affright  and  amaze  their  enemies. 
They  ufed  daggers  alfo,  and  girded  iheir  fwords  to  their  fides  by  an  iron  chain."    Mag.  Brit.  p.  14. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOO.  i^J 

Sdihiration  of  the  Romans.  The  necks  of  the  Danmonian  garrons  were  frequently  orria-- 
mented  with  colhrs,  and  their  manes  decorated  with  llrings  of  Britifh  pearls.  (^)  Several 
of  the  caftern  nations  were  fond  of  difplayiag  the  fpirit  of  their  high-mettled  fteeds  :  And 
the  dexterous  management  of  the  horie,  feems  to  have  characterized,  in  an  equal  deo-ree,. 
both  Perfia  and  Danmonium.  Of  the  war-chariot,  I  have  already  given  a  defcription  : 
We  have  here  to  confider  chiefly  the  Danmoni-.m  mode  of  fighting  from  the  war-chariot. 
The  Britiili  chariots  had  their  wheels  frequently  furnifhed  with  fcythes  ;  were  always 
drawn  by  two  horles,  and  carried  fometimes  two  perlbns,  the  driver  and  the  warriorj 
and  fometimes  only  one.  And  the  Britiih  manner  of  fighting  (as  we  have  feen)  was 
totally  different  from  that  of  the  continent ;  and  fo  new  to  the  Romans,  as  to  terrify 
Casfar's  army,  and  occufion  his  defeat.  Herodotus  tells  iis,  that  in  the  army  of  Ninus^ 
there  were  two  hundreu  choufand  horles,  and  oi  fcythed  chariots  above  ten  thoufand.  So 
that  the  fcythed  chariots  of  war  were  uled  in  the  firft  ages  after  the  flood  :  And  they 
were  introduced  into  Danmonium  by  our  firft  Afiatit  colonies,  (i) 

And  the  Phenicians  mull  have  been  acquainted  with  the  chariot  of  war,  before  they 
4ifcovered  our  illand.  "  The  combined  nations  that  came  and  pitched  together  at  the 
waters  of  Merorn,  to  fight  againft  Ilrael,  were  even  as  the  /and  that  is  upon  the  fea-fiore 
in  »}iiItituJe,  with  horfes  and  chariots."  "  Now  Jofhua  was  old  and  ftricken  in  years  j 
and  the  Lord  laid  unto  him  :  There  remaineth  yet  very  much  land  to  be  poffeft — from 
the  fouth  all  the  land  of  the  Ca7iaamtes — and  all  the  Sidotiians — them  will  I  drive  ou£ 
from  before  the  children  of  Ilrael.  And  the  children  of  lirael  faid :  The  hill  is  not 
enough  for  us  :  And  all  the  Canaanites  that  dwell  in  the  land  of  the  valley,  have  cha- 
riots OF  IRON  ;  both  they  who  are  of  Bethfhean  and  her  towns,  rsnd  they  who  are  of 
the  valley  of  Jezreel.  And  Jofhua  fpake  unto  the  children  of  Ifrael :  The  mountain 
fhall  be  thine  ;  and  the  outgoings  of  it  fhall  be  thine  :  For  thou  flialt  drive  out  the  Cana- 
anites, though  they  have  iron  chariots  ;  and  though  they  be  firong.  And  the  child- 
ren of  Judah  went  down  to  fight  againfl  the  Canaanites  (after  the  death  of  Jofhua)  that 
were  in  the  mountain,  and  in  the  fbuth,  and  in  the  valley.  And  the  Lord  Was  with 
Judah  ;  and  he  drove  out  the  inhabitants  of  the  mountain,  but  could  not  drive  out  the! 
inhabitants  of  the  valley,  becaufe  they  had  chariots  oj  iron."^  Such  were  the  multitudes 
of  war-chariots  in  the  holls  of  the  Canaariites  and  the  Sidonians  :  And  to  the  defcend- 
ants  of  thefe  people  the  fame  kind  of  vehicles  mult  have  been  familiar,  when  they  reached 
the  fhores  of  Danmonium.  (f)  That  the  Greeks  ufed  the  war-chariot,  very  anciently^ 
is  plain  from  Diodorus  ;  who  tells  us,  that  the  Britons  lived  after  the  manner  of  the  old 
ivorld-^  arid  that  they  ufed  chariots  in  fight,  like  the  ancient  Greeks  at  the  Trojan  ni'ar.(d) 

With 

(a)  Borlafe's  Coins,  No.  12,  19,  20,  and  22.  and  OfTian,  vol.  i.  p.  li. 

{i>)  Of  the  iflatid  of  Paiichaia,  lying  off  the  coafl  of  Arabia,  Diodofiis  calls  the  Ifthabitanti 
filvloy(^()o)iis,  and  notices  their  war-chariot,  alfo,  fimilar  to  that  of  the  Danmonians.  Enaci  Je  ras 
«vS^aj  TtoXti/.iy.as ,  koci  (x.c(j.ot.vi  -^^■na-^a.i  Kxlo/rxs  ^j^a-yo.;  <ji.qyjx.iv.uis,  Diod.  WeJ)'.  tom.  i,  p.  367* 

(c)  The  vaft  number  of  thefe  chanots  In  the  armies  both  of  the  Canaanites  and  Britons,  is  a 
flriking  circumflance.  "  Sifera  gathered  together  all  his  chariots — even  nine  hundred  chariots  of 
iron."  And  the  war-chariots  of  CalTibelaunus  amount  to  four  thoufand.  "  The  Br'uijh  chariot  brings 
Into  our  thoughts  the  horfes  and  chariots  of  Mgypt,  mentioned  in  earlieft  days.  The  'Tyrian  Her~ 
cules^  who,  I  fuppofe^  might  bring  the  firft  oriental  colony  hither,  was  a  king  in  yEgyft.  In  fcrip- 
ture,  when  Jofeph  was  priiTie  minifter  there,  we  find  chariots  frequently  mentioned,  both  for  civil 
and  military  ufes.  In  "Joflma^  time,  the  Canaanites,  Rephaim  or  giants,  and  Perizzites  had  them  :  So 
the  Fhilijlwcs.  Our  anceftors,  the  Britons,  coming  both  from  .^gypt  and  Canaan,  brought  hither 
the  ufe  of  chariots :  And  they  remained,  in  a  manner,  Angular  and  proper  to  our  ifland,  to  the  time 
that  the  Romans  peopled  it.  And  it  was  falhionable  for  the  Romans  at  Rome^  in  the  height  of  theit 
luxury,  to  have  Britifh  chariots,  as  we  now  Berlins,  Landaus,  and  the  like. 

EfTedacselatis  fifte  Britanne,  jugis." 
ColUnJor''s  Beauties  of  Britijh  Antiqu.  ^.  28,   29. 

(a)  Richard  thus  defcribes  the  Britifh  mode  of  fighting :  "  Genus  hoc  erat  ex  effedls  pugna,  ut 
Cafar  in  IV.  narrat.  primo  per  omnes  partes  perequitant,  &  tela  conjiciunt,  ac  ipfo  terrore  equorumj 
te  flrepltu  rotarum,  ordines  plerumqae  perturbant  *.  &  quum  fe  inter  equitum  turmas  infinuavere, 
ex  efledis  defiliunt  &  pedibus  difpari  prcelio  contendunt.  Auriga  interim  paululum  e  proelio  exce- 
dunt,  atque  ita  fe  collocant,  ut,  fi  illi  a  miiltitudiiie  hoftium  premantur,  expedltiim  ad  fuos  receptum 
habeanc.  jta  mobilitatem  equVtum,  l^abilitatem  pedltum  in  prceliis  prseftantj  a<;  tantum  ufu  quoti- 

diano* 

Vol,  r,  P  d 


2o3  HISTORICAL    VIEWS   op   DEVONSHIRE. 

With  lefpefl  to  our  Belgic  colonifts,  if  they  really  ul'ed  the  military  car,  they  clearly 
borrowed  it  from  the  Aborigines.  "  The  celt  and  the  tnilitary  chariot ,  fays  \fr.  Whjt- 
aker,  were  introduced  into  the  ifland  with  the  nrft  inhabiters  of  it.  At  the  airival  of 
Ca^far,  the  uk  of  the  chariot  was  uni-verfal  in  Britain,  and  formed  one  of  the  difcrimi- 
nating  marks  in  the  national  charafter  of  the  natives."  "  At  the  arrival  of  Caifar,  alfo 
(Mr.  Whitaker  confefles)  a.  je-zv  Gauitjh  tribes  only  ufed  the  military  car."  i  his  is  a 
rurious  point ;  which  is  worth  examining  for  a  few  moments.  From  Mr.  Whitaker's 
ftateraent  of  the  cafe,  then,  which  is  exaftly  agreeable  to  the  truth  of  hillory,  arc  ws 
to  conclude  that  the  celt  and  the  car  were  derived  from  the  Gauls  to  the  Britons,  ot 
from  the  Britons  to  the  Gauls  .>  Mr.  Whitaker  aiTerts  the  firft;  intiinacing,  *'  t!;at  the 
ufe  of  them  in  Gaul  nv&s  gradually  nutrn  out."\a)  But,  if  the  celt  and  tl.e  ni  hrd  been 
originally  ufed  by  all  the  inhabitants  of  Gaul,  why  fhould  they  ti  ive  alnio:"-  :::'..:  reared 
on  the  continent,  in  Casfar's  time,  and  have  remained  common  in  this  Ci  ur.iry  •  The 
celt  was  frequent  long  after  Caefar,  in  Danmonium,  in  Scotland ,  and  in  IrthtiS:  A.id 
I  need  not  remind  my  readers  of  CuthuUin's  car.  Mr.  Whitaker  brings  the  fii  it  colony 
from  Gaul  into  Britain,  about  one  thouiand  years  before  Canar.  At  this  jur.ftjre,  the 
conti.iental  Gauls  mull  have  uled  the  war-chariot  nniverlaily  :  Otherwile,  Mr.  \Viiiraker's 
colony,  the  ifland  Gauls,,  who  ai'e  fuppofed  to  h:u'e  emigrated  from  diiltrent  parts  of 
the  cont'ment,  could  not  have  bren  al!  alike  acqu.^inled  with  the  Ci.r,  and  have  Intro- 
duced  it  where-cver  tht^y  ictrlcd,  -.vhcther  in  Dr.nmonium,  or  Ireland  or  the  Highlands. 
Notwithftanding,  however,  this  univei-faiivy  oi  the  car  in  Gaul,  this  vehicle  was  almoft 
unknown  there,  after  the  laf.re  of  a  thouiand  years.  :'at,  at  the  end  of  the  fame  period, 
it  was  as  common  in  Britain  as.  a::  t^r'A.  Hosv  can  wc  iuisf  iftorily  account  for  this  great 
difference?  Surely  the  car  was  introduced  from  this  ifiand  into  Gaul :  (A)  and  not  long 
before  the  tinie  of  Ca?far.  The  following  oblervations,  I  think,  may  form  a  clue,  to 
guide  us  through  tlie  intricacies  of  the  quelHon.  Where  dediii'wg  cultoms  have  pre- 
vailed iijn--iierfaUy,  the  remains  of  them  will  as  uni'verfaUy  appear.  We  (hail  detect  them 
in  various  places  and  fituations.  Wherever  we  go,  their  evanefcent  colors  will  mo- 
n^entarily  catch  the  eye :  And  thefe  colors  will  be  fcattered  and  feeble.  This  is  the 
cafe  with  ever)'  declining  cuilom  that  has  once  been  general.  But,  where  cuftoms  or 
falhions  are  juji  beginning  to  be  imitated  by  one  people  from  another,  the  imitators,  be- 
trayed into  extravagance  by  their  fondnels  for  novelties,  inftead  of  faintly  copying  the 
original,  reprefent  it  ftrongly,  though  not  perhaps  juftly.  If  this  idea  may  be  illulhatcd 
by  a  familiar  example,  I  fhould  inftance  the  conduft  of  a  little  countrj'  town — which  in- 
variably exhibits  a  new  falhion  juft  introduced  from  the  metropolis,  in  all  the  glare  of 
tawdrinefs  of  which  it  is  capable  ;  and  rather  than  fuffer  it  to  fall  fliort  of  its  fancied  fplen- 
dor,  caricatures  it  in  colors  the  moft  ridiculous.  Let  us  apply  thefe  obfervatior.s  to  the 
point  of  the  military  car.  If  the  Gauls,  as  Mr.  Whitaker  fuppofes,  at  firft  "  ufed  the  war- 
chariot  uni'verfallj,"  and  if  the  "ufe  of  this  vehicle  were  beginning  to  ivear  out,''  we  fliould, 
doubtlefs,  find,  where-evef  the  uliige  exifted,  the  relics  of  it  fcattered  and  Jaint.  But,  if 
the  chariot  wtrtjuf  introduced  into  Gaul,  we  (hould  difcover  it  among  a/fw  tribes,  who  had 
recently  imported  it  from  our  illand,  and  we  (hould  deteft  it,  perhaps,  on  the  continent 
in  fituations  abfolutely  7ie%v,  whili\  other  ufes  would  be  iuperadded  to  its  original  defign. 

Now, 

dlano,  &  exercltatione  efficlunt,  iit  in  declivi,  ac  praecipltl  loco  Incitatos  equos  fuftlnere,  &  brcvi 
moderari,  ac  fleaere,  &  per  temonem  percurrere,  &  in  jugo  infilkrc,  &  in<ie  fe  in  currus  citiflime 
recipere  confuevennt.  Equeftris  autem  prcelii  ratio,  &  cedentibus  &  inftquentibus  par  atque  idem 
pcriculum  infeiebat.  accedebat  hue,  ut  nunquam  confetti,  fed  rari,  magnifque  intervallls  prceliaren- 
tur,  ftationefque  difpofitas  haberent,  atque  alios  alii  deinceps  exciperent,  integrique  &  recentes  de- 
fatigatis  fuccederent.  utebantur  &  telis."  p.  6,  7.  This  contains  the  fubftance  oi  the  defciiptions  to 
which  we  are  commonly  referred  in  Caefar,  and  Tacitus  and  Mela.  The  defcription  of  CuthulJin's 
car  has  been  already  quoted  from  Macpherfon's  Offian,  In  a  poem,  entitled  ««  Oflian  departing  tQ 
bis  fathers,"  an  allufion  to  it  is  thus  introduced  : 

I  faw  Cuthullin's  car,  the  flame  of  death. 

As  Swaran  darken'd,  like  a  roaring  flood  : 

I  faw  his  high-maned  courfers  fpurn  the  heath, 

Snort  o'er  the  flain,  and  bathe  their  hoofs  in  blood. 
See  "Poems  by  Gentlemen  of  Devon  and  Cornwall,"  vol.  i.  p.  150. 

(tf)  Thus,  aJfo,  he  ftates  the  cafe  of  the  Britilh  religion.     Vet  the  Gauls  repaired  to  this  Ifland, 
when  the  ftream  of  their  religion  failed,  as  to  the  fountain-head,  whence  it  fprung._ 
(*)  It  was  probably  introduced,  foon  after  the  opening  of  our  trade  with  the  continent. 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  209 

Now,  we  find,  from  feveral  ancient  writers,  that  a  few  Gaulijb  tribes  only,  ufed  the  car.  It 
vas  not  cafuaily  obl'erved,  here  and  there,  in  different  and  diftant  parts  of  Gaul :  The  ufc 
of  it  was  not  fcattered  or  promifcuous ;  but  ^fe'v.'  tribes  of  Gaul  uled  the  war-chariot,  in 
coutradiilinftion  to  the  other  numerous  tribes,  who  did  not  u(e  it  at  all.  Neither  Caefar 
nor  his  foldiers,  though  they  had  traverfed  a  very  large  part  of  Gaul,  had  ever  feen  In 
Gaul  a  military  car.  They  were  ftartled  at  the  appearance  of  the  Britilh  car.  If  they  had 
feen  one  cur  only  in  Gaul,  they  could  not  have  been  ftruck  with  terror  or  ailonifhment  at 
the  reappearance  of  the  fame  kind  of  vehicle,  in  Britain.  As  to  the  few  Gaulift  tribes 
who  uied  the  car,  let  me  add  another  circunaftance,  which  coincides  moft  happily  with 
the  general  pofition  ;  "  thole  tribes  (we  are  told)  ufed  the  car  equally  for  the  journey  and 
the  right."  They  were  not  content  with  the  original  ufe  of  this  car.  The  Britons,  from 
whom  they  had  borrowed  it,  liill  appropriated  it  to  military  purpofes.  But  this  was  not 
enough  for  the  imitators.  Captivated  by  its  novelty,  they  applied  it  to  other  purpofes : 
They  ufed  it,  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war — on  the  road,  as  travellers,  as  well  as  in  the 
field,  as  foldiers.  (<2)  Thefe  are  fafts ;  to  the  truth  of  which  Mr.  Whitaker  aflents.  Have 
we  not  here,  then,  a  decifive  proof  that  the  ule  of  the  car  in  Gaul,  was  a  fafljion  juil 
imported  ?  If  it  had  ever  been  univerfal,  and  was  now  beginning  to  be  dropt,  is  there 
not  reafon  to  wonder,  that  thok  tribes,  who  are  fuppofed  to  retain  the  cuitom,  fhould 
retain  it  with  an  oblHnacy  fo  (Irong,  the  very  moment  when  their  countrj'men  had  totally 
abandoned  it  ?  In  what  m.^nner  (hall  we  account  for  this  ftrange — this  fmgular  contraft  ? 
State  it  as  a  new  falhion — and  all  difficulties  will  be  done  away — all  doubts  will  inftantly 
vanidi :  It  was  looked  on,  as  an  innovation  by  the  Gaulish  tribes  in  general :  It  was  re- 
garded as  yet,  with  a  jealous  eye.  But  Aate  it  as  an  antiquated  cuftom  j  and  I  again  aik, 
IS  there  a  circumibnce  in  the  whole  volume  of  hiftory,  more  extraordinary — is  there  any 
tiling  in  fable  more  incredible,  than  that  t\\t  greater  part  of  the  Gauls,  fhould  have  loji 
every  veftige,  even  the  faintejl  trace,  of  a  ufage  tranfmitted  immemorially,  from  age  to 
age ;  whilll  the  retnaining  part  (hould  have  grafped  it,  with  a  tenacioufnefs  fo  perfeve- 
ring  ?  Can  we  believe,  that  mouldered  as  it  was  all  around  them  into  atoms,  thole  few 
tribes  could  have  difplayed  it  frefix  and  vigorous  ? — But,  enough :  abruptnefs  is  better 
than  tedioulheli- 

The  laft  particular  which  I  fiiall  notice,  is  the  mode  of  burying  the  dead,  or  the  rite* 
of  (epulture  in  Danmonium.  The  primitive  mode  of  burial  was  that  of  configning  the 
body  entire  to  the  grovmd.  In  this  manner  were  tlie  heroes  of  Ofllan  buried.  But,  to 
reduce  the  body  to  allies,  and  then  inteiT  it,  feems  to  have  been,  very  foon,  the  practice 
in  Danmonium.  Under  both  forms,  the  body  was  either  depofited  in  a  cavity,  or  laid 
upon  the  furface  of  the  ground  j  when  a  barrow  was  conftrufled  over  it.  The  alhes, 
however,  of  burnt  bodies,  and  the  hones  in  particular,  were  ufually  collcdted  and  put  into 
urns.  And,  in  various  parts  of  Devonlhiie,  both  the  barrow  and  the  urn  ftill  detain  for 
a  moment  the  curious  eye.  It  was  ui'ual  to  bury  with  the  body  what  the  deceafed  in  his 
life-time  mol};  regarded.  Hence  their  bow  and  their  fword,  the  horn  of  their  hunting, 
and  a  bofs  of  their  (hield,  are  fo  often  laid  with  the  warriors  of  Ollian,  "  in  tlie  dark  and 
naiTow  houie  of  the  grave."  And  the  broken  remains  of  fwords,  fome  half-melted  by 
the  funeral  fire,  have  frequently  been  found  in  the  barrows  of  the  Britifh  wai'riors,  in 
Panmonium.  The  celt,  alfo,  which  {h)  was  an  aboriginal  inftrumeut,  introduced  from 
the  eaft,  hath  been  often  dil'covered  in  the  fepulchres  of  the  Britons.  In  the  facred 
writings,  there  is  a  ftriking  paifage,  which  proves  that  this  cuftom  was  oriental.  Ezekiel, 
prophetically  exulting  over  the  fallen  armies  of  the  Perfians  and  other  neighbouring  na- 
tions, cries  out  :  "  They  fliall  not  lie  with  the  mighty,  that  are  fallen  of  the  uncircum- 
cifed,  which  are  gone  down  to  hell  with  their  weapons  of  war ;  and  they  have  laid  their 
Iwords  under  their  heads !"  It  may  be  worthy  of  remark,  that  fo  early  as  the  Britiih 
period,  a  fuicide  was  buried  at  the  interfeftion  of  two  highways  :  And  the  paffengers 
threw  ftones  upon  his  grave,  till  they  had  raifed  a  confiderable  heap  over  it.  Thus  Heftor 
wilhes  Paris  to  have  a  cairn  over  him  ;  or  to  be  clad  in  a  coat  of  ftone— (r)  Adciwn  tua-a 
X'lwva.    A  proverbial  fort  of  curfe,  to  the  fame  purpofe,  prevails  at  this  day  in  Ireland 

ai\d 

(a)  See  Strabo,  p.  306.    Frontinus's  Stratagem.  1.  i.  c.  33.  and  DIodorus,  p.  342,  ff^ejeling^ 
{b)  Borlafe,  p.  238  and  239,  (c)  Iliad,  1.  3, 

Vol.  I.  .  D  d  z 


jlQ  HISTORICAL    VIEWS    op    DEVONSHIRE. 

p^d  Wales  :  (a)    And  in  Scotland,  the  cuftom  of  throwing  ftones  on  the  corpfe  of  the 
^leilbn  who  dies  fuddenly  in  the  field  or  on  the  roaH,  is  ftill  religioufly  oblei  ved.  (o) 

Thus  have  I  infpefted  a  few  leading  traits  in  the  charafter  of  the  Danmonians,  chiefly 
as  illuftrated  by  their  manners  and  culloms. 

And,  on  this  view,  alfo,  it  appears,  that  the  aboriginal  Danmonians  came  not  from 
the  continent  of  Europe;  fince  far  different  manners  and  culloms  charadcrized  the  other 
inhabitants  of  Britain,  who  emigrated  long  afterwards  from  Gaul.  We  may,  therefore, 
conclude,  that  the  firli  inhabitants  of  the  Southams,  inllead  of  btrng  a  colojiy  from  Gaul, 
made  their  lettlements  there,  independent  on  the  neighbouring  continent.  From  their 
retaining  fo  lively  an  imprellion  of  the  Afiatic  fadiions  and  ufages,  we  may  alio  infer, 
that  they  advanced  hither  with  the  greatell  expedition,  and,  probably,  reached  this  illand 
very  foon  after  the  difperfion.  For  had  they  migrated  by  llow  degrees,  and  icttled  here 
^fter  the  lapfe  of  many  ages,  they  would  have  brought  with  thera  very  few  of  their  ori- 
ginal manners  or  cultoras.  (c) 

But 

(a)  Ware,  H.irris  p.  141.  and  Mona,  p.  214. 

{h)  In  the  foiir  parilhes  oi Redruth,  Gwenn.ip,  Kenwyn,  and  St.  -Agnes,  where  the  four  weftern 
hundreds  of  Cornwall  unite  in  a  point,  there  is  a  barren  heatliy  fpot,  called  Kyuur  an  Kcu,  or  tve 
flace  of  death.  Here  all  fclf-murderers,  belon^'ing  to  the  adjacent  psriihes,  are  depofited.  And  this 
has  been,  from  time  immemorial,  the  fpot  appropriated  for  fuicides.  Perhaps  there  is  not  I'o 
remarkable  a  place  of  this  kind  in  any  other  part  of  tlie  i!land. 

(c)  To  thii  argument,  Mr.  Whitaker  replies,  in  a  le.^.r  to  the  author  :  "  If  the  Britons  came,  in 
the  conrfe  of  progreflive  migrations,  from  eafl  to  weft:,  from  Alia  into  Europe,  and  from  Gaul  into 
Britain  ;  you  think  they  would  have  loft  the  cbaraBer  of  their  original  country  in  riie  long  interval 
of  fucceflive  movemenrs :  And  yet  they  did  noi-^  you  apprehend  ;  '  as  tht'r  n.ar.ner%  and  vjaga  bore 
a  very  near  refemblance  to  thofe  of  the  Afiaticks.'  1  know  ot  nc  fuch  refemblance.  There  is  only 
3  refimbLmce  tha:  was  fure  to  arife  wliere  the  origin  was  common,  and  that  exiils  between  all  the 
nations  of  the  globe,  in  confequence  of  their  common  origin — Quahm  decet  sJJ'e  Jonrum.  The 
moil  llriking  part  of  this  refemblance  between  the  Aiiaticks  nnd  the  Britons,  is  the  ufe  of  military 
cars.  Yet  the  ufe  of  them  was  equally  common  to  the  (i)/Egyptians  and  the  Britons.  Ar.d  in  thefe 
arguments  from  refemblance,  we  deceive  ourfeives,  I  thipk,  by  taking  general  fimilarities  for  parti- 
cular, by  confidering  human  characters  (if  I  may  fo  exprefs  myfelf)  as  national  charadlerifticks,  and 
J>y  fo  proving  an  origin  to  be  analogically  true,  which  is  hKtorically  falfe." 

(i)  Common,  undoubtedly,  to  the  /Fgvptians  and  the  Britons;  a  fafl  that  fivourj  my  hypothtfi?.  For  -A-bo  were  the 
jRgyptians?  The  following  curious  analyfis  will  Qiew  us  who  the  .-t.gyptians  were.  It  was  fcjnd  anior.g  Badcock's  MSS. 
and  it  is  in  the  handwritir.g  of  Dr.  White.  It  is  the  very  outline,  indeed,  ot  i;ie  projetied  .lusyptian  hillory.  in  the  com- 
pcillion  of  wbich  Mr.  Badcork  had  engaged  to  afiift  Dr.  White.  Ana,  to  give  Mr.  B.  an  sdta  of  the  plan,  Dr.  \V.  had  luf. 
tily  thrown  together  the  following  hints — hints,  which  difcover  fo  pcrfeft  an  acquaintance  with  the  fubjrft,  and  which  are 
expreft  with  fo  much  psrfpicuity  that  1  Oiall  hope  to  be  excufed  the  lil-erty  1  take  in  printing  them.  Ti-.e  ljrgu.ige,  indeed, 
of  the  analyfii,  is  flowing  and  elegant ;  nor  can  I  help  adding,  that  it  brings  to  my  mind  the  hefl  part  of  White'!  Bampton- 
le&ures.  "  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  great  antiquity  of  Egypt,  as  a  regular  Empire  ;  and  every  thing  confpires  to  (hew  that 
it  was  the  firfl  country  of  the  world,  which  was  improved.  I;  is  to  be  ron£dcred,  then,  as  the  mother  of  civ.Iijjtion  ;  as 
the  fcene  in  which  the  powers  of  the  human  mind  firft  began  to  difplay  theiufelves,  iu  the  foundation  of  government,  the 
acquiiition  of  knowledge,  and  the  inveiiigation  of  truth.  It  is  therefore  a  curious  and  important  enquiry,  what  are  tiie 
caufes' which  have  »iven  to  Egypt  this  Ci:gular  diftinSion,  and  given  it  the  lead  in  the  hiilory  of  human  improvcmena, 
Thefe  caufes  mav  perhaps  be  found  in  the  natuie  of  the  country  itfelf.  However  doubtful  it  may  be,  where  the  remnar.t 
of  the  human  race  fettled  after  the  deluge,  it  feems  in  general  to  be  sdinitted,  that  it  was  fome  where  in  Arabia.  Defcrip, 
tion  of  the  foil  and  climate  of  .\rabia.  Particularly  adapted  to  paflurage.  Not  fo  to  agriculture  ;  from  the  want  of  water. 
iTie  fame  want  naturally  rendered  the  inhabitants  migr.iiory,  for  tie  fi^pply  of  their  flocks,  &c.  In  fuch  a  fituation  men 
could  not  increife  faft.  Imnienfe  territories  were  necefT-iry  for  the  fubiiftence  of  fmall  hordes,  and  rot  communities  ot 
any  extent.  From  thefe  caufes  their  improvement  mull  have  been  flow,  and  their  progrefs  (hort.  The  knowledge  whirh 
their  ftate  demanded  was  foon  acquired.  Their  cares  were  contincd  to  the  charge  of  their  ftocks :  and  ai  their  foil  and 
climate  ofiered  them  no  otlier  manner  of  fubfidence,  their  invention  was  naturally  confined  within  that  narrow  fpbere.  No 
divifions  of  rank,  or  great  inequalities  of  fortune  coul^^  take  place.  The  fcienre  of  government  therefore,  mutl  have 
rem.ained  unknown,  end  the  form  of  it  naturally  continued  in  that  patriarchal  ilate,  in  which  it  is  at  firil  found.  Illuf^ration 
of  this  from  the  modern  Mate  of  the  Arabians :  the  dcfcription  of  tieir  anceftois  in  the  books  of  Mofes,  is  Bill  applicable 
to  them  ;  and  after  the  lapfe  of  fo  many  ages,  they  feem  to  have  advanced  little  from  that  ftate  of  naturr,  in  which 
we  firft  6nd  them.  Vniile  men  therefore  remained  in  this  climate,  and  under  thefe  circumflances,  impoflible  that  they 
ihould  make  any  material  advances  in  civilization.     It  is  now,  alfo,  impoflible  to  trace,  what  were  the  caufes  which  led 

them  from  Arabia  into  Egypt ^whether  war,  or  conqueft,  or  what  is  moft  probable,   their  natural  difporuion  to  migration. 

Whatever  it  was,  great  difference  in  ti.e  nature  of  the  country,  from  that  which  they  had  formerly  inhabited. — Defcription 

of  the  foil  and  climate.  Sec.  of  Egypt.    Of  the  Nile,  and  its  phenomena This  country  ill  fuited  to  the  paftoral  ftate,  froiii 

the  overflowing  of  the  river ;   but  favourable  peculiarly  to  agriculture.      ImjKinible,  that  they  (hould  not  perceive  the  fruit- 
faloffs  of  the  foil,  and  the  fupply  it  afforded  for  the  waau  of  men.    Aericulture  rendered  thcoi  flalicnary ;  introduced  the 

i4e» 


The    BRITISH    PERIOD.  211 

But  I  do  not  red  my  argument  on  the  relemblance  of  the  Aborigines  to  the  eaftera 
nations,  in  this  particular  only  •■  Review  the  whole  chapter;  and  mark  the  circumjiantial 
t-uidence  on  which  it  is  founded.  That  the  fettlers  in  this  ifland,  were  not  a  colony  from 
Ganl.  has  been  proved,  on  every  view  of  the  fubjea.  And  the  vulgar  theory  of  the 
oriiriral  European  plantations,  would  be  abandoned,  I  think,  on  all  hands,  after  a  can- 
did and  liberal  inveltigation  of  it.  To  luch  an  inveftigation  I  fliould  be  happy  to  excite 
the  le.irned.  From  the  dubioulhefs  of  the  common  theory,  I  had  a  right  to  form  a  new 
hvDOthefis.  And  I  have  imagined  a  rapid  emigration  to  thefe  iQands,  for  the  molt  part 
by'fea,  from  Armenia  or  one  of  the  neighbouiing  countries.  I  have  not  grounded  my 
fu-rpofition  on  the  foie  authority  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle.  Tlie  Saxon  Chronicle  is  one 
pf'its  weakelt  lupports.  The  evidence  of  Caefar  himlelf,  is  ftrong  in  my  favor  :  And  the 
voice  of  the  Greek  hillorians  and  geographers  is  (till  more  decifive.  But  the  charader  of 
tlie  orientals,  fo  Itrikingly  contraited  with  that  of  the  Europeans,  and  yet  according  witli 
rliat  of  the  aboriginal  Danmonii,  feems  aimoll  to  determine  the  controverfy.  The  orientals, 
at  the  time  of  thtirfirjl  emigration  into  different  countries,  were  imprell  with  various  tnuts 
of  charafter  ;  fuch  as  we  have  dilbovered  in  their  modes  of  fettlement,  their  civil  govern- 
ment, their  religion,  their  conunercial  communications,  their  language  and  learning, 
their  genius  and  their  culfoms.      The  wandering  fpirit  and  (a)  patriarchal  policy  of 

Armenia 

{a)  According  to  Monfieur  D'  Ancarville,  this  mode  of  government  was  Cuthlte.  "  The  Scythians 
{fays  he)  ■••ere  a  wife  and  politic  people  :  Having  conquered  Afia,  they  impofed  a  tribute  fo  light, 
^hat  it  was  rather  an  acknowledgment  of  theii  conqueft,  than  an  impoft.  Afia  was  then  a  fief 
depending  on  Scythia  :  It  was  the  tir(l  ftate  governed  by  this  kind  of  conftitution  :  and  here  may  be 
difcovered  the  origin  of  the  feuiial  fyftem,  brouglit  into  Europe,  by  the  defcendants  of  thefe  very 
Scythians.  The  law  terms,  ufed  by  the  ancient  Irifh,  iov  feud^  and  every  other  word  appertaining 
jho-eto,  arc  Arabic,  or  Chaldaean  j  but  chiefiy  the  firfl." 

idcJ  of  property  in  lind;  afforded  the  means  of  fubfifience  fo  an  infinitely  greater  number  of  men,  than  the  fame  portioB 
t>l  icrruorv  in  pafturage.  1  lie  incieafe  of  populaiion  led  to  the  di-.  ifion  of  eciployments,  and  opened  a  wide  field  for  inv-cn- 
tioii  in  the  arts.  Hence  the  foundation  of  cities,  the  divUion  of  ranks  (introduced  by  the  inequalities  of  property)  t)i« 
besinningoi  commerce,  and  the  great  outline' of  regular  govcrnirent.  While  the  reft  of  the  inhahituiu,  of  the  globe,  ia 
this  early  perod,  were  wandcriri-  in  hor.let  through  Arabia,  the  citircns  of  Egypt  were  led  by  the  nature  of  then  foil  and 
climate,  to  ellahhflj  themfeivet  in  a  fixed  territory  ;  to  cultivate  the  ground  inftead  of  living  by  their  flocks  ;  and  in  confc- 
(juencT  of  this  difference  of  fituatii^n  and  employment,  were  grailually  advancing  in  improvement,  in  population,  in  fub- 
prdination,  and  in  Uvins  the  foundations  of  future  greatnefs.  Egypt  wa^  theielore  naturally  the  mother  country  of  ic 
provcment:  becaufe  it  was  the  rountry  which  firft  led  men  to  fettle;  in  which  agriculture  was  iirft  pra£bfed  ;  tn  whit* 
the  number  and  the  diverfities  of  property  among  men,  firrt  called  for  the  eftablifhuientof  regular  government;  and  in  whicfc 
the  extent  of  population  firft  gave  rife  to  the  various  arts,  which  an  extenfivc  population  requires.  The  nature  of  the  climate 
and  foil  of  Egypt,  may  therefore  be  confidered  as  the  caufe  of  its  being  the  mother  of  civiliiation,  and  of  its  taking  the 
lead  in  the  hiflory  of  human  improvements.  Tlio'  we  can  thus,  perhaps,  with  fo.ne  probability  afiign  the  caufe  of  thc^early 
civilization  of  Egypt,  yet  we  arc  altogether  at  a,  lofs.  when  we  enquire  into  the  period,  when  this  improvement  begw. 
Tlie  firttagesof  the  hi  dory  of  this  country,  covered  with  impenetralile  darknef»;  and  fo  far  from  being  able  to  trace  the 
ptogrefs  of  improvement  in  it,  the  firll  credible  accounts  which  are  come  down  to  us  commence  with  the  period  of  its 
grcatca  refinement :  We  fay,  tf.e  firii  credible  accounts  becaufe  there  are  not  wanting  writers,  who  afcribe  to  Egypt  an  anti- 
i.uity  utterly  incredible.— Account  of  the  .Egyptian  claims  to  antiquity.  Infufficiency  of  thefe  claims  deroonftrable. — it, 
from  their  total  want  of  coincidence  with  the  univerfal  hiftory  of  mankind ;  there  being  no  appearance  that  the  earth  km 
inhabited  previous  to  the  time  affigned  by  Mofcs.  adly.  From  their  want  of  correfpotideiice  with  our  uniform  experience 
of  the  manner  in  which  population  is  extended  men  being  always  found  to  eiicreafe  in  prcpoition  to  the  means  of  fubfift- 
ence ;  and  to  fpread  themfelves  in  an  infinitely  fmaller  fpace  of  time  Uian  the  Egyptian  chronology  arroga'.es,  round  the 
fommon  centre  from  which  they  fprung.  if  the  Egyptian  claims  therefore  were  true,  the  whole  earth  ought  to  have  bee» 
fully  peopled,  many  thoufand  years  before  the  firft  a:ra  of  hiftory  commences.  The  real  hiflory  of  the  population  of  the 
earth,  on  the  contrary,  accoids  pctfeclly  well  with  the  period  of  the  deluge,  and  affords  a  ftrong  proof,  that  a  more  diftant  acra 
cannot  be  tiue.  3dly,  From  the  hillorv  of  arts  fciences,  &c.  which  upon  the  Egyptian  fuppofition,  ought  to  have  made  great 
progrefs,  and  to  have  been  generally  ditfufcd  among  mankind  long  before  we  know  that  they  were.  4thlv,  From  the  progrcf* 
of  tlie  Egyptians  themfelves  in  the  fciences  and  arts ;  which,  however  great,  is  no  more  than  might  naturally  have  taken  place 
in  the  long  period  that  intervenes  between  the  xra  of  the  deluge,  and  the  firft  certain  accounts  we  have  from  other  nation* 
of  their  police  and  inftitutions.  Thefe  arguments  may  be  thought  fufficiently  conclufivc  againft  the  Egyptian  pretenCons  in 
particular.  It  may  ftill  however  be  urged  in  their  favor,  that  other  nations  have  made  the  fame  pretenfions  :  and  that 
tlierefore  there  is  a  general  concurrence  of  opinion,  which,  as  it  hath  prevailed  in  diflerent  ages  and  in  different  countries, 
may  be  thought  to  militate  againft  the  Mofaic  fyftem.  It  is  thercfoie  neccffary  to  fubjoin  a  brief  confutation  of  thefe  opi- 
nions ;  which  may  perhaps  be  clafied  under  thefe  three  heads.  Firft,  the  opinion  of  thofe  who  reft  their  arguments  o» 
ancient  records,  fuch  as  Saiiconiatho,  Berofus,  the  Chinefe,  and  Indians.  Secon<lly,  of  thofe  who  argue  from  the  advanced 
ftate  of  tlie  arts  in  particular  countries,  as  in  Peru.  And  thirdly,  of  thofe  who  argue  from  the  appe.irances  of  nature, 
at  Brydone.  The  confuution  of  thefe  pretenfions,  and  particularly  of  the  Egyptian,  fupplies  a  proper  bafis,  on  which 
we  may  cftablifb  the  truth  of  the  Mofaic  hiftory  :  and  in  the  profecution  of  this  enquiry,  we  (hall  find,  that  as  the  former 
betray  evident  marks  of  faliliood  and  impofture,  whether  we  coiifider  their  internal  or  external  evidence,  fo  the  latter  i» 
recommended  by  every  argument,  of  which  the  fubjeft  \%  caoabU.  Summary  view  of  the  arguments  la  favor  of  the  Mofaic 
mn  of  the  creation  and  of  tiic  deluge.'* 


212  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of    DEVONSHIRE. 

AnnenU  and  Ar.ihia,  and  the  religious  peculiarities  of  Pertia  and  of  India,  ^vsrc  ori!;i- 
nally  fixed  to  on^  fpot.  And,  at  the  rime  of  their  firft  colonial  reparation,  thefe  charac- 
terillic  lines  were  equally  difcernible  in  the  Armenians,  the  Arabs,  the  Perfiaas,  ai\d  the 
Indians.  At  this  crills  was  kindled  the  flame  of  adventurous  oionizatiDu  ;  At  ti-.is  crifis 
the  orientals  emijjrated  to  Dannionium  :  And,  whilft  the  Ariuenians  and  the  Arabs  were 
nationally  diilinguifhed  by  one  p:rt  of  the  primitive  eaftern  chara£ler,  and  the  Perfians 
and  Indians  by  anotJier,  the  Danmonians  leem  to  have  retaijied  the  leading  features  of 
riie  whole.  (<i) 

{j)  Whilft  I  was  revifing  the  proof  of  this  very  fheet,  the  two  foJI-nvIng  letters  were  commu- 
nicated to  n^e.  They  (i)  were  addrelFed  to  the  Editor  oi  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  in  anfwer  to 
a  query  which  I  had  propofed,  (z)  in  that  excellent  mifcellany,  on  the  topic  of  the  Armenian  emi- 
gration. And,  I  think,  they  may,  with  propriety,  appejr  at  the  clofe  of  this  cliapter,  a^  in  feme 
njeafurc  a  recapitulation  of  it.  The  firft  letter  fjgned  T.  E.  is  written  in  fupport  of  the  old  theory  i 
Sis,  Exeter,  January  9th,  1791. 

I  trouble  you  with  an  anfwcr  to  R.  P"s  queftioa  concerning  the  firnificatjon  of 
that  paflage  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  which  fays  that  the  Britons  came  from  Armenia.  I  rtull  atten)pt 
to  prove,  in  the  firft  place,  that  it  is  a  miftake  in  the  Chronicle;  and  fecondly,  to  fhow  whenfce 
they  realJy  came.  Csefar  fays,  in  the  5th  book  of  his  war  in  Gaul,  "  Britt  mniae  pars  interior  ab  iis 
incolitur,  (3)  quos  nafw  in  infula  ipa.,  memoria  prodilum  dicunt ;  maritima  pars  ab  iis  qui  przdz- 
ac  belli  inferendi  cavfa  ex  Belg'n  trarjicrant."'  Thus  we  fee  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  maritime  parts 
were  defcended  from  the  Bei^.  Tie  nath-es  of  the  intcrkur  country  therefore  naf.  be  mcai.t  by  tie 
Cbronide.  Now  the  Armenians  were  beyond  doubt  a  Gothic  or  Scythian  nation,  and  confequently 
tbe'ir  {^)  language  muji  ba-ve  been  iv'uiely  different  from  the  Belgic,  bscaufe  the  latter  was  Cehrc.  We 
have  never  heard  that  tbtre  rvjs  at  that  time  more  (5)  than  one  tongue  ufd  in  Britain,  whereas  if  the 
iirward  parts  had  been  peopled  from  a  Gothic,  and  the  maritime  from  a  Celtic  nation,  there  mutt 
have  been  two.  Reafon  will  inform  us,  that  people  who  co.i.efrom  countries  far  diftant  one  from 
the  other,  muft  have  different  languages :  now  as  this  was  not  the  cafe  with  the  Britons,  who  liad 
cnly  one,(6)  tve  muft  conclude  that  they  •were  but  one  naticti.  And  that  this  nation  came  from  Arme- 
nia, is  hardly  credible.  If  they  did  migrate  from  thence,  it  muft  have  been  in  very  (7)  ancient 
times,  when  they  were  at  leaf  as  (8)  rude  ai:d  uncivilized  as  they  were  in  the  days  of  Caefar  ;  and 
from  the  defcription  he  gives  of  them,  we  can  fcarcely  believe  that  a  people  fo  (9]  dcji'rute  of  almijt 
exiry  arty  could  have  undertaken  and  performed  fo  very  long  awd  hazardous  a  journey.  This  is,  I 
hope,  fufficient  to  prove  a  miftake  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle.  Secondly,  the  pbce  from  whence  they 
came,  mnft  be  Oaul.  No>w  for  this  we  have  the  authority  of  both  (10)  Ca-far  and  Bede,  though  thty 
differ  about  the  precife  place  ;  the  firft  making  them  come  (11)  from  the  Belga,  the  latter  from  the 
Arm:ricar.s.  Bede  appears  to  be  the  more  rejpcfljble  authority, {jz)  and  to  have  had  the  greatefi  oppor- 
tunitifi  of  coming  at  the  truth,  whereas  we  all  know,(i3)  tiiat  Cafar  bad  little  t>r  no  acquaintance  with 
the  inhabitants  of  this  illand.  Now  Cxfar,  when  he  mentions  the  "  maritima  pars,  '  muft  mean  tlie 
fouthern,  as  that  was  the  only  part  he  was  acquainted  with  ;  and  the  Chronicle  (14)  exprejsly  fpcaks 
ef  the  foutbcrn  coaji.  This  coaft  being  the  neareft  to  Gaul,  appears  to  have  been  peopled  Irom 
Armorica,  allowing  Bede  to  be  {15)  better  authority  than  Cajar,  and  becaufe  the  language  of  Brittany 
is  at  this  very  time  a  diale£l  of  the  Welch,  though  it  may  be  (t6)  objected  that  the  Britons  carried 
their  language  there  ivith  them,  when  they  fled  from  the  Saxons  in  the  fifth  century.  But  as  the 
Brkons  did  not  immcdbtcly  fettle  in  Armorica,  but  roamed  up  and  down  in  various  parts,  it  is  very 
probable,  my  almo/i  certain,  (17)  that  the  reafon  of  iheir  fettling  th^TC,  was  becaufe  they  found  the 
ctirtoms  and  language  of  the  country  fimilar  to  the'.r  own  ;  otherwife  they  would  not  have  chofen 
;!,  for  they  could  Iwve  found  Jar  mor?  fertile  trafts  in  any  of  the  other  provinces  on  that  coaft.   ^// 

tiforiet 

(t)  But  not  printed.  (2)  See  queries  in  the  Cfntleman's  Magazine,  for  December,  1791,  p.  1 120. 

(j)  Out  lilhui  Uthcrs  arc  thus  ftrongly  contridiainguiQied-^wo  race;  of  beings,  as  different  in  every  rcfpeft,  as  tht 
£iiglin>  and  tbt  Cuhritans,  at  the  ptefent  moment.  (4     .m>  it  unquc.'^.i^nably  \«rai. 

(O  Otten  have  w.  heurd,  that  there  whs  more  than  one  tongue  ufed  at  that  time  in  Britain.  Bede  declares  that  the 
iiMnity  wji  worOupped  a-.nong  us  in  the  languages  o(  b\e  different  people,  the  Angles,  the  Britons,  the  Plct.,  the  Srots.  and 
tie  I-*tins  ;  which  perteclly  dgrcej  with  the  .Saxon  Chronicle,  wheic  five  naticns  are  faid  to  inhabit  Britain  -  the  Angles, 
the  Bn'on:,  tlic  Pitts,  the  Scots,  and  the  Boclcdenc,  or  ihe  Romans.     See  Bcde's  Hift.  c.  1.  1.  1 .  and  Saxon  Chronicle. 

(6>   But  the  preinifcs  are  falfc.  (7)  True.  (8j  The  Briton?  were  not  inde  and  uncivilized  in  the  days  of  Ccfar. 

t(t)  The  contrary  of  this  would  approach  nearer  to  the  truth.  Sec  Wbitaker's  Mancheiler,  and  Genuine  Hu^.ory  of  the 
Biitons  averted.  (iC,  Carfar's  au.hoiity  :   Where?  qiios  natos  in  infula  ipfa      Is  thi'  Csfar's  authority  ? 

(11)   Here  the  two  races  of  Britons  arc  jumbled  together.  (12)   More  refpeclablc  than  Csfat  ? 

fi3)  I  confefs  I  fcarcely  underftand  this.  Cxfar  ronvetfed  with  the  Britons  whom  he  defcribcs.  He  wa«  at  Icall  acquainted 
»:th  one  race  r.f  uhe  Britons.  Had  Bede  any  '•  fuch  opportunities  of  coming  at  the  truth  I-"  Does  T.  E.  imagine  that  Btdt 
was  a  contemporar/  of  Julius  Czf.>r  ?  .        ,, 

!■  1 41  Yet  T  E.  jui»  before  obferied,  that  "  the  nstivcs  of  the  interiour  country  muft  be  meant  by  the  Chronicle.' 

(15)  No— not  for  »  moment.      (=6^  And  tteobjtftioa  is  uolcrmountaole.      (17/ It  wcild  te  ia-fcCibU  to  jrove  tji*. 


The     BRITISH    PERIOD.  213 

I'lhor'iti  of  credit  agree  (iS)  that  ihey  were  origina'ly  of  Gaul,  excepting  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  the 
bepinnins  of  wliic'i  feeins  to  be  taken  from  Dede  ;  for  v/hich  reafon  1  am  inclmc'  to  think  it  the 
fault  o'  the  tranfcnber.  What  h.ts  been  faid,  is,  1  btlieve,  enough  to  prove,  t'lat  the  original  coun- 
try of  the  Britons  was  not  Armenia,  but  Annorica.  1  am  forry  to  have  doubled  you,  Sir,  with  fo 
long  a  letter,  and  hope  you  will  excufe  it,  as  the  iubjeft  is  of  confequence  towards  Uluftrating  thf 
hiliory  of  Devon.  -  I  ani  yours,  Sec.  T.  E, 

The  fecond  letter,  f;gned  T.  Y.  L.  contans  fevcral  arguments  in  favor  of  my  hypotliefii. 

Mr.  Urban,  Exeter,  17th  Januiry,  1792- 

In  anfwcr  to  Mr.  Folwhele's  qucftlon  concernliijr  the  Saxon  ChrumtlS;  whicli 
fpeaks  of  the  fettlenient  of  t'le  Arinenians  in  the  foutii  part  of  this  iflunJ,  I  mart  beg  le.ve  Jo  obfcrve, 
tliat  th«.hi'^ory  of  tiie  original  inhabitants  of  this  ifland  is  fo  very  obfcure,.  that  rifxer  the  firic>cft  and 
mod  remo(c  fcsrchts,  we  are  obliged  to  rely  for  the  far  greater  part  of  our  information  on  probabi- 
lixy  and  cor.jeifVure.  Although,  theretLTc,  the  fa<fls  on  which  the  folio ^ving  obfervAtions  are  founded 
may  be  curvhdered  as  wanting  hiftoric  pro^f,  yet  it  is  hoped  they  will  be  allowed  in  fome  meafurc 
to  anfwcr  the  queftion  before  u^,  and  tend  to  elucidate  a  palTage  fonxwh  it  cbicuie  in  a  very  ancient 
and  venerable  regifter  of  our  nation.  Armenia,  I  apprehend,  was  a  large  difiritl-,  comprehcndine; 
the  modern  Turcomaoia  and  part  of  Ferfia  :  It  is  a  couitry  famous  for  being  the  6rfl  inhabited  of 
the  world  :  And  in  this  region  the  great  Babylon  is  thought  to  laave  flood  ;  for  v/e  are  certain  f.lwX 
this  was  the  reftdencc  of  Noah  and  his  defcendants,  for  a  confid«rable  time  after  the  flood,  ard  that 
from  lienct  it  was  thty  migrated,  on  the  confufion  of  tongues,  and  fubfequent  ■difperhon  o;  lan- 
kind.  But  the  defcenda:us  of  Japhet,  from  whom  the  weftern  nations  are  coi.fjJered  as  derived, 
although  they  fent  out  colonics,  yet  ftill  retained  polTeirion  of  this  their  former  rel-ri.  nee,  atid  Afia 
minor,  which  perhaps  was  all  Included  by  them  under  the  name  of  Armenia.  If  tlijs  be  admrtted, 
there  cannot  remain  a  doubt  of  their  being  the  founders  of  Troy.  Thns  then  we  fee  the  Trojans 
might  f.iirly  deduce  their  origin  from  Armenia.  Now  tliere  is  a  well  known  traditior  concerning 
the  firfl  inhabitants  of  this  ifland,  that  Brutus,  a  Trojan,  great  grandfon  of  iEneas,  havirg  by  chance 
killed  his  father  in  hunting,  was  obliged  to  fly  into  Greece,  and  having  fojoiirned  there  for  fome 
time,  and  being  admonilhed  by  an  oiacle,  he  with  other  Trojan  fugitives,  travelled  ftom  thence 
irto  Britain.  That  this  was  a  generally  received  opinion  amongft  our  anceftors,  v^e  n-.ay  fpther  from 
the  number  of  authors  who  have  adopted  it.  Others,  it  is  true,  have  regarded  it  as  a  fi£tion  of  Geoffry 
of  Monmouth  ;  but  that  he  was  not  the  inventor,  is  plain  from  its  being  mentioned  by  Ncnniuf, 
who  flouriflied  upwards  of  three  hundred  years  before  :  and  Sigebertiis  Gembiafenfis,  who  preceded 
Ceoffry  by  one  hundred  yeirs,  particularly  defcribes  the  paffmg  of  che  Trojans  through  Gaul,  in 
their  way  into  Britain,  and  the  city  which  Brutus  there  built.  It  is  to  this  circumftance  of  their 
pafling  through  Gaul,  that  we  are  to  attribute  what  Bcde  f?ys,  concerning  the  Britains  coming  from 
Armorica.  Armorica  was  the  ancient  name  of  that  part  of  France  which  is  now  called  Bretagnc^ 
and  probably  was  confidered  as  the  country  from  svhich  Brutus  took  his  departure  for  Britain.  Nor 
have  there  been  wanting  poets  to  celebrate  this  expedition  5  amongft  whojn,  our  countrymaa 
Jofephus  Ifcanus  makes  no  inconfiderable  figure. 

.  His  Brutus  avito 

Sanguine  Trojanus  patrlis  egrelTus  ab  oris 

Port  cafus  varios  confedit  finibus,  orbem 

Fatalem  naftus,  debellatorque  gigantum 

Et  terra  vi<Sor  nomen  dedit. 
I  do  not  recollcdl  in  any  other  hlftory  befides  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  mention  being  made  of  the  Britons 
as  coming  immediately  from  Armenia,  but  we  fee  it  was  by  no  means  uncommon  to  derive  them 
from  a  country  bordering  on  and  originally  peopled  from  Armenia.  I  am  well  aware  of  die  many 
objeftions  that  are  brought  agalnft  this  account.  It  may  appear  to  be  fomewhat  improbable.  It  was 
not  mentioned  here  with  a  view  to  eftablifh  its  authenticity :  Buj  confidering  it  altogether  as  a  fi£lion, 
ftill  it  affords  us  grounds  fufficient  to  authorize  a  conjedure,  that  this  tradition  concerning  the  Abo- 
rigines of  our  ifland  having  prevailed  among  the  natives,  and  been  received  by  many  authors  into 
their  hiftories,  the  palTage  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle  under  confideration,  refers  to  it  and  is  grovinded 
thereon.  The  Britons,  if  we  regard  them  as  a  colony  of  the  Cimbri  or  Cimmerii,  defcendants  of 
Gomer,  may  poffibly  appear  to  have  a  more  immediate  coimeftion  witii  Armenia ;  but  I  do  not 
believe  this  idea  to  have  been  general  previous  to  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  when  Mr.  Camden  publifhed 
it  in  his  Britannia,  and  confequently  the  writer  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle  could  not  allude  to  it.  As 
to  their  fettling  firft  in  the  fouthem  parts  of  this  ifland,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt }  for  even  to 
this  day  it  is  the  cuftom  for  people  whenever  they  land  on  a  country  unexplored,  although  they  fend 
out  parties  continually  for  the  fake  of  making  difcoveries,  yet  to  eftablifli  their  colony  in  thofe  parts 
where  they  firft  landed.  The  fouthem  part  of  Britain  is  the  neareft  of  any  to  the  continent,  and  of 
courfe  firft  attracted  the  notice  of  thofe  who  pofTefled  the  oppofite  fhore,  whether  Armenians  or 
Armoricans :  And  there  is  great  reafon  to  fuppofe  that  Cornwall  was  looked  upon  as  the  place  of 
their  firft  fettlement.   An  ancient  author  has  from  hence  derived  the  appellation  of  Britannia  prima, 

bv 

(18)  Sq  fttcbthin{. 


aT4  HISTORICAL   VIEWS    of   DEVONSHIRE. 

6y  which  the  fouth  of  B  jtaln  was  formerly  diftinguifhefl ;  and  I  am  inclined  to  thinlt,  notwhh' 
ftandine  what  Mr.  Camden  and  others  have  fjid,  that  Cornwall  o  ves  its  name  iri  2;:-eat  r.eafiire  to-' 
this  tradition:  lor  we  find  the  weftern  parts  >y  which  we  muft  underftand  the  fouth  wcrtcrn) 
afllgned  to  Coritteui,  a  companion  of  Brutus,  and  Brutus  hirnfelf  proceedLnir  eaft'^-ard  into  Kent, 
where  he  is  fuppofed  to  have  ere£Ved  his  kiiT^dom  :  Prima  dl&a  eiV  piirs  cccidentalis  inrnlsc  qu« 
primum  in  iUa  Britonei  Brato  &  Corineo  ducihus  applicuerum,  eaque  priino  a  Corinco  et  fnis  &  occu- 
pata  efl  Sc  habitata.  Britannia  fecu-.da  Cantia  quia  fecbndo  a  Bruto  &  fuis  inhabitaia  fuit.  In  the 
time  of  Julius  Caefar,  we  are  told  that  the  fea-coails  of  Britain  were  inhabiced  by  a  fet  of  Btlgic 
freebooters,  who  had  paffed  from  the  continent  over  hither,  for  the  fake  of  olu;icc: .  and  difpoiTeflcd 
the  Aborigines,  whom  they  had  driven  to  the  inner.nofl  parts  of  the  ifl^ind.  This  has  been  made 
wfe  of  by  fome  as  an  argument  to  prove  that  the  firrt  inhabitants  of  Britain  were  of  Gallic  extradlion  : 
but  confidering:  t!\e  time  in  which  Caefar  wrote,  and  that  he  fpeaks  of  a  more  ancient  race  inhabiting 
the  inner  country,  I  think  that  it  only  tends  to  ll>cw  that  '.he  cui^oii  of  pirating  (afterwards  carried 
to  fuch  length  by  the  Danes  and  others)  even  then  exited,  and  in  thofe  parti  was  attended  with 
eonfiderable  fuccefs.  I  am,  Sir,  yours,  &c.  T.  Y.  L.  (i) 

As  1  'ake  leave  of  thefe  fpeculations,  I  cannot  b\it  remind  my  readers  of  Sir  WILLIAM  JONES  ; 
referring  them  to  the  fecond  volume  of  his  Asiatic  Researches  ;  where  is  one  idea  in  particular* 
&csefted  by  the  learned  prefidtnt,  which  I  have  already  noticed,  and  which  murt  have  left,  I  think,- 
animpre.Tion  in  favor  of  our  oriental  hypothefis.  I  cannot  but  repeat  it.  "The  Saxon  Cbcnicle 
(fays  Sir  Wilham)  brings  the  firi\  inliabitants  of  Britain  from  Armenia ;  while  a  late  -very  learned 
ti^'iier  concludes,  after  all  his  laborious  refearches,  that  the  Goths  or  Scydiians  came  from  Perfia ; 
and  another  eontendsy  with  great  force,  that  both  the  iriih  and  old  Britons  proceeded,  fevcrally,  fiom 
the  borders  of  the  Cafpian  ;  a  coincidence  of  conclwsions,  from  different  media,  by  fir/cm 
tubaily  unconneSieJy  which  could  scarce  have  happened,  if  they  w£ke  not  groukdeB' 
ON  SOLID  principles."  And  Sir  Wtliiam  Jones's  ccrclujhns,  from  a  flill  different  medium,  fall  in 
with  the  reft,  to  eftablifh  the  pomt.  Nor  (hould  it  be  diffemblec',  that  Dr.  Borlaje's  f>araUel  befween  the 
Ferjians  and  the  Abcriginei  of  this  ifland,  had  long  excited  in  my  mind  the  .'rrongert  fnfpicion  of  their 
affinity  ;  though  the  Dodtor  was  tracing  their  features  of  refemblance  with  very  different  fentiments. 
That  the  religion  of  the  Druids,  in  particular,  ahnofl  the  fame  as  that  of  the  Magi,  had  its  origin  iw 
Britain,  I  aKvays  confidered  as  a  very  abfurd  foppofuion,  notwithftanding  the  fpecious  arguments  of 
Dr.  Borlafe  :  I  could  not  but  conceive,  that,  to  the  moft  incurio'.-s  obferver,  it  mufl  wear  the  appear- 
ance of  orientalifm.  Who,  indeed,  on  a  fair  view  of  the  fubjed,  can  imagine  the  Danmcnians  tw 
feave  been  origjnally  GauHfh,  and  the  Druids  a  priefthood  formed  in  Britain  out  of  thofe  GauliiV 
emisrators  ?    "Who,  with  fuch  a  dejefted  idea  of  the  Druids, 

Could  haont,  in  rapture,  Cornwall's  wizard  caves* 
Or  wander  thro'  the  faery-peopkd  vales 
Of  Devon,  where  pofterity  retains 
Some  vein  of  that  old  minftreify,  which  breath'd 
Thro'  each  tijoe-honor'd  grove  of  Britilh  oak. 
There,  where  the  fpreading  confecrated  boughs 
Fed  the  fage  mifletoe,  the  holy  Druids 
Lay  wrapt  in  moral  mufings  ;  while  the  bards 
Call'd  from  their  foleron  harps  fuch  lofty  airs. 
As  drew  down  fancy  from  the  realms  of  light/ 
To  paint  fome  radiant  vifjon  on  their  minds, 
Of  high  myfterimis  import. 
to  fl»ort,  thsrt  the  Danmcnians  were  an  eaftern  race,  appeared  to  me  more  than  pfobafcle,  befdre  f 
had  read  a  fyllable  of  the  Saxon  Chronich,  or  knew  that  a  paffage  exifted  there,  relating  to  Armenia 
•rSoath  Scythia;  before  1  had  the  flighteft  acquaintance  with  eitl^er  Bryjnt  or  Vallancey ;  beforer 
Finkerton  had  publifhed  his  admirafcle  book,  or  Sir  IVilliam  Jones  had  formed  his  Bterary  fociety  ill 
fadia.     Thus  prepolTeft,  it  was  with  real  fatisfadJion,  that  I  received  notices  fron>  SIR  GEORGE 
TONGE,  relating  to  an  eaftem  colony,  foon  after  I  had  turned  my  attention  to  the  Hiftory  of 
Devonfhire.   And  my  right  honourable  correfpondent  had  fettled  his  theory,  unconne(fVed  with  the  opi- 
■ions  and  independent  on  the  difquifitions  of  others — formed  from  his  comprehenfivc  view  ©f  JMP. 
and  manners — original  in  his  own  enlightened  mind  ! 

(i)  S  know  nothing  of  the  UtteT-yriiters :  Nor  can  I  {^cfs  who  they  are. 


END  OF  yOL.  I,